Indian Man Set on Fire in Melbourne in New Attack, Police Say

An Indian man was set on fire in Melbourne today, the latest victim in series of attacks and murders of Indians in the Australian city.

Today’s attack, just a week after an Indian student was stabbed to death in Melbourne, was not believed to be racially motivated, Victoria’s police department said in a statement on its Web site.

The 29-year-old man was returning to his home in Essendon, a suburb of Australia’s second-biggest city, from a dinner party with his wife about 2 a.m. when he was attacked and set on fire by four men as he got out of his car, police said. He suffered burns to 15 percent of his body.

“We are investigating all possibilities, but early indications show it was not racially motivated,” acting Senior Sergeant Neil Smith said in the statement.

Concerns about racism and the safety of Indians in Australia heightened this month after the death of 21-year- old accounting graduate Nitin Garg, who was stabbed to death on his way to work in Melbourne’s western suburbs on Jan 3., and the recent discovery of fruit picker Ranjodh Singh’s burnt body on the outskirts of Griffith, in western New South Wales.

The latest victim, now in stable condition in hospital, said he didn’t know his attackers, police said.

The safety of Indian students dominated headlines in May and June last year after several attacks in Melbourne, prompting federal and state Australian ministers to travel to New Delhi in an effort to ease concerns.

‘Urban Crime’

A majority of such attacks are “opportunist urban crime” and authorities have taken extra measures to tackle the violence, Australia High Commissioner to India Peter Varghese told reporters in New Delhi said Jan. 6.

The government in New Delhi condemned the murder of Garg and told its citizens in Australia to take security precautions.

Teaching international students is Australia’s third- biggest source of foreign income, with India the second- largest source of scholars, representing 19 percent of the 630,000 full-time enrolments at Australian universities, according to the Department of Education.

Visa applications by Indians to study in Australia fell by 46 percent between July and October from a year earlier, compared with a 23 percent decline from all countries, according to data from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.