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The man was identified as Saurabh Anand, who was brutally attacked with a machete by a group of teenagers outside a shopping centre in Melbourne.
Indian-origin man attacked in Australia (Image credit: The Age)
An Indian-origin man was brutally attacked with a machete by a group of teenagers outside a shopping centre in Melbourne, according to local media reports.
Saurabh Anand, 33, suffered grave injuries in the attack, after which he was recovering in a hospital, where surgeons reattached his nearly severed hand, The Australia Today reported.
The incident took place at around 7.30 pm on July 19, when he was walking home after buying medicine from a pharmacy at Central Square Shopping Centre in Altona Meadows. He was ambushed by five teenagers, who launched a brutal attack on him.
Man Recounts Horror
Anand told The Age that he was on a phone call with a friend when he saw some movement out of the corner of his eye. “I didn’t hear a sound. Within seconds, they had surrounded me,” he said.
He said one of the boys searched his pockets while another kept punching him in the head until he fell to the ground. The third individual then pulled out a machete and put it around his throat.
“They didn’t stop there. My instinctive reaction was to bring my arm up to protect my face and wrist. While I was trying to protect myself, the machete just went through my wrist. The second attack went through my hand. The third went through the bone,” Anand said while speaking with The Age from his hospital bed.
He was also cut and stabbed in the shoulder and back. In the life-threatening attack, he suffered a fractured spine, broken bones in his arm, besides head injuries.
“I was just trying to survive. All I remember is the pain, and my hand was… hanging by a thread,” he recalled.
As he found himself in a pool of blood, he somehow made it outside the centre and cried out to the passers-by for assistance. “I saw someone and I just yelled out, ‘I’ve been attacked. Please help me’,” he recalled the moment.
Strangers helped him and called triple zero. He was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where doctors first thought they might have to cut off his left hand. But after hours of emergency surgery — including putting screws in his wrist and hand — surgeons managed to save and reattach it,” The Australia Today reported.
“The doctors say my injuries are so severe that they’re unsure how this is going to go. I cannot move my hand … All I feel in it is pain,” Anand told The Age.
The cops have nabbed four teenage boys who allegedly carried out the attack and are yet to arrest the fifth suspect.
Accused Released On Bail
A 14-year-old boy from Wyndham was charged with intentionally causing serious injury and unlawful assault. He was asked to appear before a children’s court on August 15.
Two boys, each 15, from the Hobsons Bay area were also charged with similar offences, but released on bail to appear in the court on August 11. The fourth individual was expected to be charged on summons.
Anand expressed his disappointment after the news of two of the accused getting released on bail came to the fore. “I’m seeking justice. I don’t want anyone else in the community to be going through the same trauma I have,” he said.
Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes…Read More
Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes… Read More
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