Two brutal assaults on Indian nationals abroad—one in Adelaide in Australia, and another in Dublin, the capital of Ireland—have sent shockwaves across the Indian diaspora and ignited growing fears about racism and safety for immigrants.
Both incidents, which took place over the weekend, involved graphic violence and are being investigated as hate crimes by local authorities.
Adelaide Attack
In Australia, 23-year-old Charanpreet Singh, an Indian student, was viciously beaten in a suspected racially motivated assault in the heart of Adelaide.
Singh, along with his wife, had parked near Kintore Avenue on the night of July 19 to attend the Illuminate light show.
What was meant to be a peaceful outing turned violent when a vehicle pulled up and five men—some reportedly armed with metal knuckles and sharp objects—confronted him.
“They just said ‘f*** off, Indian’, and after that, they just started punching,” Singh told 9News from his hospital bed.
The attackers punched him through the car window, pulled him out, and stomped on him repeatedly.
Singh lost consciousness during the attack. He was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where he was diagnosed with brain trauma, multiple facial fractures, a broken nose, and eye injuries.
Surgery was required, and he remains under medical care.
South Australia Police arrested a 20-year-old man from Enfield the following day, charging him with assault causing harm.
He has since been released on bail. Police are continuing the search for the remaining four suspects and have retrieved CCTV footage from the vicinity.
A video of the assault has circulated on social media, deepening anger and concern among Indian students across Australia.
Singh, while recovering, shared his emotional trauma: “Things like this, when they happen, it makes you feel like you should go back… You can change anything in your body, but you can’t change the colours.”
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas condemned the attack, calling it “deeply disturbing” and “completely unwelcome in our state.”
He assured the community that the matter is being treated with urgency.
Dublin Horror
Just hours before the Adelaide incident, another shocking assault occurred in Dublin.
An Indian man in his 40s—reportedly an Amazon employee who had just arrived in Ireland weeks earlier—was stripped, beaten, and left bleeding on a street in Tallaght, a suburb of the Irish capital.
According to the Gardaí, the Irish national police, the attack occurred around 6 pm on Saturday, July 19, on Parkhill Road.
The man was taken to Tallaght University Hospital for treatment and discharged early the next morning.
Reports suggest he was targeted by a group of youths who falsely accused him of inappropriate behaviour around children—a claim that Irish media say was amplified by far-right, anti-immigrant groups online.
‘Pure Racism’
Eyewitness Jennifer Murray, a local resident who intervened, described the violence as “pure racism.”
She recounted how the attackers struck the man in the head, dragged him, and rammed his head into a lamp post multiple times. He was then stripped of his shoes, trousers, and underwear, and robbed of his phone and money.
“They basically left him for dead,” Murray told The Journal, adding that the victim had large gashes above both eyebrows and was too dazed to respond.
India’s Ambassador to Ireland, Akhilesh Mishra, condemned the attack, calling it “horrible” and expressing concern over increasing racist incidents targeting the Indian community.
Mishra said the Embassy is in touch with Irish authorities and has offered assistance to the victim. Taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), he posted a graphic image of the man’s injuries, saying, “Aghast at the insensitivity & obfuscation… Hope the perpetrators are brought to justice.”
Local politician and former mayor Baby Pereppadan, Ireland’s first Indian-origin mayor, met the victim and noted that he remained in a state of shock.
“Most Indians in Ireland are here on work or student permits, contributing critical skills to the healthcare and IT sectors. Such acts of violence are unacceptable,” he told the Irish Independent.
No arrests had been made in the Dublin case at the time of writing. The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities are treating it as a hate crime.
A Growing Pattern Of Racism?
These back-to-back incidents come at a time when immigrant communities in both Ireland and Australia are grappling with rising xenophobia and online hate.
In Ireland, far-right groups have amplified anti-immigration rhetoric, with a recent viral post calling the influx of Indian immigrants since 2020 “unsustainable” and “making the country unrecognisable.”
Meanwhile, in Australia, concerns have long simmered about safety for international students, particularly from South Asia.
Diplomatic missions in both countries are urging calm, calling for swift justice, and emphasising the need to protect immigrant communities from targeted violence.
(With inputs from IBNS)
