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Indian community in Australia welcomes first use of race-hate laws | Victorian Premier John Brumby and Indian community leaders in Australia have welcomed the first use of race-hate laws after Victorian police charged two men with inciting racial hatred during a 45-minute drunken assault on an Indian student on a bus. Vasan Srinivasan, the president of the Federation of Indian
Associations of Victoria, said that while the charge had yet to be proved, it
would send a strong message that crimes motivated by race, religion, or colour
would not be tolerated, News.com.au reports. "It's a sad day to teach the community
what to do and what not to do. It is not only symbolic, it is sad . . . that we
have to go this far to educate the community," he said. Graphics student Rajan
Kumar Katkam has alleged that on the afternoon of February 6, while travelling
on a bus from Frankston to Rye, south of Melbourne, he was punched and kicked
and subjected to drunken racial taunts from three young men for 45 minutes. He
said on Wednesday that during the assault, which took place on a crowded bus,
only one young woman attempted to intervene, but was told, "if you're going to
support him we are going to bash you first". Kumar alleged the men kicked him
in the back, punched him in the head, made comments about his colour and said
black people "need to be like slaves". He said he became so fearful he asked the
men whether he could get off the bus, although he did not know where he was, but
this only incited them further and one of them came towards him carrying a bottle
and shouting, "you people are racists; we're not racists". Two of the suspects,
aged in their 20s, have received summons to appear at Frankston Magistrates Court
on September 1, charged with intentionally causing injury, unlawful assault, assault
in company, offensive language and inciting racial hatred. |
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