The burnt house of student Rajesh Kumar in Harris Park
In yet another case of violence towards the Indian community, a student suffered up to 30 per cent burns after a suspected petrol bomb was hurled at him in his home in Harris Park. The injuries could have been grave had his flat mate not shown the presence of mind and quickly grabbed a blanket and covered the burning boy with it.
Rajesh Kumar, 25, 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 just after 8pm. The explosion and subsequent fire left Mr. Kumar with burns to a third of his body.
A NSW Fire Brigades spokesman said Mr. Kumar’s flat mate Arminder Singh did the right thing when he grabbed a blanket and threw it over his friend, helping to extinguish the flames.
Mr. 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 flat mate, Chander Mohan, said they saw Mr. Kumar run out of his bedroom and out the front door with his back and arms on fire.
Mr. Singh grabbed a blanket before going to his friend, who had collapsed in agony on the patio.
“He was crying, on fire. He lay down on the ground and I put the blanket on him,” Mr. Singh said. “I told him everything was going to be OK. He was asking: ‘Is my face OK?’ ” Mr. Singh and his flat mates sat with their friend until paramedics arrived.
Mr. Kumar, a hospitality graduate who works at Harris Farm Markets in Parramatta, was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital with burns to 30 per cent of his body.
Mr. Singh and Mr. Mohan said the attack was terrifying.”We could not sleep, we could not eat all night,” Mr. Singh said. They had moved into the house with Mr. Kumar and two other flat mates in February but were moving out again as soon as possible, Mr. Mohan said.
He said Mr. Kumar had no enemies and had not been in any trouble.”We don’t know why,” Mr. Mohan said. Mr. Singh said he had been robbed on the street three times in the past two months.
“This area is not safe,” he said, adding that another neighbour across the road had been robbed by as many as 14 men right outside his unit.
Police are investigating the fire but would not say what caused it.
A Harris Street resident her neighbour said someone threw a bomb through Mr. Kumar’s bedroom window.
Inspector Gus Viera, from Granville police, said he could not verify the woman’s story because police had not yet interviewed Mr. Kumar.
They are treating the blaze as suspicious.
Granville Local Area Commander, Superintendent Garry Sims, confirmed an explosive object had been thrown through the window. “We believe something’s gone through the window and our forensic examiners have seized a number of items to try to determine what caused [the fire],” he said.
He said parts of glass objects were among the items seized. He also praised Mr. Kumar’s housemates, saying their actions were “spot on”. He said detectives had no idea yet why the attack occurred. “We have no motive, no idea, nothing that jumps out as to why,” he said.The attack was not believed to be gang-related, Superintendent Sims said.
Meanwhile, the Council General of India in Sydney, Mr. Amit Dasgupta expressed serious concern over the growing incidents of violence towards the Indian community. He called upon the Indian media in Sydney to highlight the problems being faced by the community members. The Consulate officials visited Mr. Kumar in the hospital. Consul Mr. Gautam Roy described the condition of Mr. Kumar as serious but out of danger.
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May 29th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
This is not going to happen.No one is safe here,police do nothing much.he should get money from Aus. Government.it should be stopped or students should be stopped to enter aus. if government cant take care of.not only indian students all students r not safe in such environment.Now is the time to take step or quit.Police is just to go see and speak ,no action will be taken and at end the case will be gone.
May 30th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
This is rediculous which means there is no saftey for us here.There is no difference wheather it Sydney or Melbourne,cops are same (hopeless n helpless). They cant even do anything so we have to something by ourselves.People even afraid to go out in dark and always unsure to come back safe.Police is even worst than ours,so dont rely on them,as I have never seen any action in last 3 years.
May 31st, 2009 at 5:40 pm
this is true what mr vinod and dhaval has said looking at the current situation, I think Harris park and surrounding areas are not worth staying as there is a lot of hooliganism and racism going on with the sub-continent students staying. I had a friend of mine robbed and bashed under his apartment by 2-3 people robbing his mobile and some money. This is a racial vilification against all the subcontinent people. Now where are the people gone who went to court when 1 of the Subcontinent cricket was accused of racism. Police is doing nothing they just come ringing there siren and do some talking and then go away and after a few months case closed. Australian government must step forward or the students will do something.
June 1st, 2009 at 8:05 am
nothins gonna happn aftr such incident bcuz aus police is bullshit….,, as if u report them abt an incident they wud be thr lyk in 1 r 2hrs which is nt gud i mean ppl shud start takin action themselves as aus police is nt helpin them ……so ppl strt protectin urself nn keeep sum kind of gunz r knives r chanes wid u so u cn evade such kind of situations … these woggs n junkies r targitin us nw we shud trgt them n show them wht we r ….. so guyz dnt wry bhen chowd deyange ek ek di …**************
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:57 am
This type of thing is not acceptable in any condition. We have to protect our self and keep something for protection. We can’t relian on Aus polis as they are pig. Inaddition, this type of issue is not well cover by media in Australia. If Aus government is not doing anything than we/our Gov. have to do something.
June 8th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
For the past so many months we are in the receiving end. My thoughts, try to get a pistol and walk atleast 2people together. Go to the same place where you feel it’s unsafe. If any group tries to attack you, shoot them, no second thots at all. Atleast repeat 2-3 times then you will see the difference. Neither Aussi govt is much interested to stop this violence against Indian nor Indian govt would take any strong steps against Aus. You should plan for few pre-emptive strikes!
June 10th, 2009 at 1:58 am
I would lay 100 to 1 odds it was not an Australian who did this – but a Lebanese. I think everyone in Sydney knows the group of people who did this including the local Indians.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:59 am
Your complaining about the police. LOL! Cronulla was because the police were useless and people had to take the law into their own hands. The police are afraid of arresting anyone except the Aussie.
January 28th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Those attacks in Harris park were carried out by racist Lebanese,as were many in that area.Recently four men were arrested and they were south east asian people.Two nepalese people were arrested for murder of indian student.So stop blaming australia people for this,blame the aus goverment for letting in uneducated people who offer nothing but violence,stupid left wing aussie people also support this tiyp of immigration.