The killing of an Indian taxi driver in Melbourne sparked a protest by around 500 cabbies who demanded better security measures.
The taxi drivers organised a protest rally near the State Parliament House Thursday night chanting, "We are humans... we want protection."
The
protest follows the killing of Rajeesh Joga, an Indian part-time taxi driver and university student, on Tuesday night, reports the Melbourne Age newspaper.
Joga, 27, a student of the Melbourne Institute of Technology, died after he was allegedly assaulted by a passenger in his taxi and then thrown out of the moving vehicle in a Melbourne suburb.
A spokesman for Thursday's protesting drivers, Arun Badgujar, said Joga's death had highlighted a bigger problem.
"Driver safety has been neglected," he told the Melbourne Age newspaper.
The drivers were demanding safety features like screens and distress lights to be installed in the cabs.
Many Indian taxi drivers were heard shouting slogans in Hindi against the Victorian premier Steve Bracks, who refused to meet the protesting taxi drivers.
Ravinder Kumar, one of the rally organisers, said the drivers wanted to meet with both Transport Minister Peter Batchelor and the Victorian Taxi Directorate, the industry regulator, to state their concerns.
Meanwhile, Eilyup Zaim, the main suspect arrested by the police in connection with the killing of Joga, was charged with murder. He was remanded in custody.