MELBOURNE: In a fresh attack targeting Indians in Australia, a
student suffered up to 30% burns after a
suspected petrol bomb was hurled at
him in his home in
Sydney. ( Watch )
According to local newspaper for Indian community, South Asia
Times, 25-year-old Rajesh Kumar was quickly covered by a blanket by
his flatmate after the attack yesterday, an act which saved him
from further injuries.
Kumar was sitting on his bed in the front room of his rented house
when an unknown person threw what neighbours say was a small petrol
bomb through his window. The explosion and subsequent fire left
Kumar with burns to a third of his body.
The latest attack came as Shravan Kumar, a 25-year-old student from
Andhra Pradesh, was fighting for life in a hospital here after
being stabbed by a screwdriver by a group of teens in a weekend
attack that also left three of his friends injured. Doctors have
said they were not very optimistic about Kumar's
recovery.
Another student Baljinder Singh, stabbed by two attackers with a
screwdriver early this week, has been released from hospital
today.
A New South Wales Fire Brigades spokesman said Rajesh Kumar's
flatmate Arminder Singh did the right thing when he grabbed a
blanket and threw it over his friend, helping to extinguish the
flames.
"He was crying, on fire. He lay down on the ground and I put the
blanket on him," Singh said adding "I told him everything was going
to be OK. He was asking: 'Is my face OK?"
Singh, 33, said he was halfway between the laundry and kitchen when
he heard the sound of smashing glass and his friend screaming. He
and another flatmate, Chander Mohan, said they saw Kumar run out of
his bedroom and out the front door with his back and arms on
fire.
Singh and Mohan said the attack was terrifying. "We could not
sleep, we could not eat all night," Singh said.
They had moved into the house with Kumar and two other flatmates in
February but were moving out again as soon as possible, Mohan
said.
He said Kumar had no enemies and had not been in any trouble. "We
don't know why," Mohan said.
Singh said he had been robbed on the street three times in the past
two months.