Violence against Indians overseas and hate crimes have also registered a shocking surge in the past two years. Students, working professionals, and families alike from India living in countries like Australia, Canada, and Ireland are finding themselves victims of violence more and more, and most of the attacks appear to be racially driven. The recent machete attack on an Indian-origin man in Melbourne is the latest in a string of horrific attacks that have left the global Indian community in a state of shock.
Indian man assaulted with machete by teenagers in Melbourne
Saurabh Anand, a 33-year-old Indian-origin man, is recovering in a hospital in Melbourne after he was attacked brutally by a group of teenagers wielding a machete. The attack occurred on Saturday evening, July 19, at the Altona Meadows’ Central Square Shopping Centre, a suburban area in western Melbourne.
Anand had just collected some medicines from a pharmacy nearby and was on call when suddenly he felt someone moving behind him. Even before he could move, five of them fell upon him from the back. One of them dug into his pockets, another punched him several times so that he fell, and the third removed a machete. When Anand tried to defend himself by bringing his arm up, the machete cut through his wrist and hand and went deep into the bone.
“All I recall is the pain, and my hand was just suspended by a thread,” he recalled from his hospital bed.
The attack left him with stab wounds on the shoulder and back, a broken spine, several broken bones in his arm, and head injuries. People passing by heard him screaming and summoned help. He was taken in emergency to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where surgeons had planned to amputate. But following hours of gruelling surgery and screws being inserted into his wrist and hand, the surgeons were able to reattach his left hand.
Even today, Anand is in the intensive care unit. “I cannot move my hand… All I feel in it is pain,” he explained.
Four teenagers have been arrested to date. A Wyndham 14-year-old has been charged with reckless causing serious injury and robbery, and two 15-year-olds and another 14-year-old from Hobsons Bay are also in court facing charges. They will face court in August. It’s concerning that two of them have already been granted bail. “I’m seeking justice… I want this to be a catalyst for change,” Anand said.
Not the first time: A disturbing trend
Anand’s case is not an isolated incident. Over the past several months, there has been a marked increase in violent attacks on Indians abroad. Most of these seem to be racially inspired. Ranging from savage beatings in Australia to murders in Canada, these instances have instilled fear into Indian communities worldwide.
‘F* off, Indian’: Charanpreet Singh’s Adelaide nightmare
On the same day, 19th July, another Indian, Charanpreet Singh, was attacked in Adelaide, South Australia. Charanpreet and his wife were out seeing the light displays of the city when a gang of males set upon them in the middle of a parking argument.
According to him, without any warning, the group started hurling racial abuse. “They just said ‘f*** off, Indian,’ and started punching me,” Singh told 9News. “I tried to fight back, but they beat me until I was unconscious.”
Singh, a student in Adelaide, was attacked so brutally that he had serious injuries, including brain injuries and facial fractures. CCTV footage that emerged online revealed that five men had assaulted him with what appeared to be metal knuckles. A woman is seen filming the attack while pleading the attackers to leave him alone.
He was unconscious and taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital. Police have taken one into custody so far and are probing the others. The attack elicited sharp criticism from South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas, who stated, “Any suggestion of a racial attack is utterly unacceptable in our state.”
Beaten and stripped in Dublin: Ireland’s horrid case
Another harrowing incident was reported in Dublin, Ireland, on the same day, 19th July. A 40-year-old man of Indian origin was attacked and stripped by a mob of men in the Tallaght suburb.
The Indian man was rescued by locals and brought to Tallaght University Hospital with several injuries. Pictures from the scene depicted him bleeding from his face, arms, and legs. Far-right groups were reported to have spread false rumours on social media to justify the attack. Gardaí, the Irish national police, are investigating the assault as a possible hate crime.
According to the Garda (Irish National Police), the attackers falsely claimed the man was behaving inappropriately around children, which was also propagated by far-right and anti-immigrant accounts on social media. The police, however, said that those claims had no basis in reality.
Bullet kills Indian student in Canada
On 25th April this year, Mohawk College student Harsimrat Randhawa, 21 years old, was killed at a bus stop. She was an innocent bystander in a shoot-out between two cars, a black Mercedes SUV and a white car. She was shot in the chest by one of them, and she died on the spot despite attempts by paramedics.
Randhawa had arrived in Canada with hopes and aspirations. Her killing put the Indian student community in Canada in a state of shock and raised concerns about public safety.
Security guard shot Dead in Edmonton
Only a few months prior, in December 2024, 20-year-old Indian student Harshandeep Singh was gunned down and murdered while employed as a security guard in Edmonton, Canada. Singh was discovered dead in a stairwell after three persons attacked him and shot him, and the two suspects have since been charged with first-degree murder.
A CCTV video of the incident depicts three individuals harassing and pushing the 20-year-old student downstairs, with one of them shooting him from behind.
Immediately after shooting Singh with what seems to be a humongous weapon, the three culprits leave the scene.
Stabbed to death at own house: Gurasis Singh case
In another such instance, 22-year-old Gurasis Singh was stabbed to death in his rented apartment in Sarnia, Ontario, on 1st December 2024. Singh had been in Canada for four months, seeking higher education, when he was murdered.
The assault occurred during the early morning hours and was said to have begun as a fight with a neighbour. But Gurasis’ father is convinced his son was attacked in his sleep. The alleged perpetrator, 36-year-old Crossley Hunter, has been charged with second-degree murder. The Sarnia police say the stabbing occurred in the kitchen of the residence where Gurasis resided.
Government data shows a disturbing scene
The recent surge in attacks is not anecdotal. Based on data published by India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in December 2024, at least 91 Indian students have been brutally attacked outside India over the last five years, with 30 of them being killed.
Canada has the highest number of 16 Indian fatalities, and other countries such as Russia and the UK follow. The figures are rising at an alarming rate; there were four cases in 2022, but this increased to 28 in 2023, and 40 cases in 2024 alone, the MEA told Rajya Sabha in March 2025.
But it’s not only students who are targeted. Indians of various occupations have also suffered. In 2021, there were 29 such cases. This rose to 57 in 2022, and 86 in 2023 almost three times in two years.
