Indian origin man attacked in Australia, brutally injured, says, 'I did not..'; Police make arrest

An Indian-origin man in Australia came close to death after a horrifying attack during which a group of teenagers assaulted him outside a shopping centre in Melbourne. The gang used a machete to attack the 33-year-old man. Saurabh Anand has suffered massive injuries, predominantly an almost cut hand. He has received life-saving surgery, which helped attach his severed hand, after which he is reportedly recovering in the hospital.

Recalls attack on way home

Anand was walking back home after buying medicine from a pharmacy at Central Square Shopping Centre in Altona Meadows when the incident occurred. On 19 July at around 7:30 pm five teenagers ambushed him while he was talking with a friend on the phone.

While talking to a Melboure publication, The Age, he said, “I didn’t hear a sound. Within seconds, they had surrounded me”. He also recalled that one of the boys scoured through his pockets, while another kept hitting him in the head and then attacked him with the machete. “My instinctive reaction was to bring my arm up to protect my face… the machete just went through my wrist. The second attack went through my hand. The third went through the bone,” he added.

Anand has endured deep cuts, a fractured spine, multiple broken bones, and injuries to his shoulder and back. After the incident, Saurabh was bleeding profusely and was barely conscious when he fell outside the shopping centre and implored passersby for help. Some of them called emergency services and rushed him to Royal Melbourne Hospital. The surgeons had initially considered amputation but later worked their way to reattach his upper limb with screws in a complex surgery which took hours.

4 attackers arrested

Victoria Police have so far arrested four teenage boys. These include a 14-year-old from Wyndham, charged with causing serious injury and unlawful assault, who is asked to appear before a children’s court on 15 August. They arrested two 15-year-olds from the Hobsons Bay area, who face same charges, will also have to appear before the court on 11 August. They have been released on bail. The fifth suspect is not found.

Anand cannot move his hand and experiences constant pain. He is upset at the bail of the two attackers. “I’m seeking justice. I don’t want anyone else in the community to be going through the same trauma I have,” he told The Age.