By IANS,
Melbourne : A group of skaters, who allegedly hurled racist abuses at Indian wrestlers travelling in a car, got their “just desserts” in this Australian city after the Indians fought back, leaving at least two people injured.
The brawl between the two groups started Sunday when a skater used his board to smash a side window of the wrestlers’ car.
The wrestlers were leaving a kabaddi tournament in Epping when the skater began abusing them in the carpark of the Meadowglen International Athletics Stadium at about 5.30 p.m., The Age reported Monday.
Tim Singh, councillor from the city of Darebin, said racist abuse was yelled at the wrestlers.
“A lot of people were leaving, the presentations were on at the time, I spoke to one of the boys that was there and he said a guy had smashed the rear window of a car that was leaving and said ‘f— off you black c—‘,” Singh was quoted as saying.
There have been a spate of attacks on Indians in Australia over the past four months, causing an uproar in India. Canberra assured New Delhi that the safety of the Indians would be taken care of. The international education industry is worth $15 billion in Australia and the sector is concerned about the negative impact of the racist assaults.
Inspector Mark Doney said the fight turned into a brawl when people from a nearby skate park joined in as the wrestlers left the venue where 5,000 people had gone to watch the team wrestling competition.
“One of the youths there tried to get in the way of the cars and yelled out a bit of abuse at people.
“I think he got his just desserts (from) the occupants of the vehicle after he smashed the window of their car.”
Doney went on to say that “obviously, push came to shove and he smashed the panel of the side window of their car with the skateboard”.
“It has escalated from there as some of his mates have come down from the skatepark. A couple more were assaulted,” he added.
To a query on whether the Indians had reacted to racial abuse, Doney said: “It could have been. At this stage, I don’t have what was actually said in front of me.”
Two men, aged 25 and 42, were assaulted and hit with sticks during the fight, and were taken to the Northern Hospital with minor injuries.
Police plan to interview the skater who initiated the clash between the two groups.