An Indian businessman in Australia has alleged that his family was racially abused and spat on by two men.
Raj Sharma, owner of restaurant Indian Mehfil, along with his wife and two children, was targeted by two men outside his restaurant in Ipswich locality in the Australian state of Queensland.
The Ipswich City Council Safe City Programme and the police identified the two suspects, one of whom was arrested and charged with public nuisance offence.
A 22-year-old youth was arrested for the attack and is due to appear in court on July 16. He has been granted bail. A second male was issued an infringement notice, The Queensland Times reported.
Ipswich councillor Andrew Antoniolli, whose office is across the road from Indian Mehfil, said the attack was unacceptable: “This incident is quite disturbing from the point of view of the racism, the language and the abuse.”
Sharma said three men sitting on the hill near St Paul’s Church started racially abusing his family who were on the veranda outside Indian Mehfil.
They turned their attack to one of the restaurant’s staff members who walked outside and then a passerby who attempted to intervene. “I took my wife and kids inside straightaway and called the police,” Sharma said, adding that, “One member of the group then came inside the restaurant and continued to hurl abuse at us, spitting on my family.”
{{/usCountry}}They turned their attack to one of the restaurant’s staff members who walked outside and then a passerby who attempted to intervene. “I took my wife and kids inside straightaway and called the police,” Sharma said, adding that, “One member of the group then came inside the restaurant and continued to hurl abuse at us, spitting on my family.”
{{/usCountry}}He said the attacks on his staff, specifically those of Indian descent, were regular, occurring as often as once a week. “It used to happen at night. This happened in broad daylight.”