Two charged over attack on Indian in Australia

Two people, including a teenage boy, have been charged in connection with the robbery and assault of an Indian national in Brisbane, the first attack against the community in Australia's Queensland province this year.

The 25-year-old Indian, whose name was not revealed, was using a telephone booth in Macgregor in Brisbane's south on Thursday night when he was attacked and punched on the side of his head and robbed of his wallet. Police have charged a 15-year-old boy and a 20-year-old youth 'with actual violence' while in company over the incident, AAP reported on Saturday.

The boy would be dealt with under the Juvenile Justice Act while the 20-year-old Macgregor youth was due to appear before the Brisbane Magistrates Court shortly, said the police. Another Indian, a cabbie, was also attacked in Brisbane on Friday after an argument broke out between him and two men in Carindale in Brisbane's southeast.

The men punched the driver in the face several times and smashed the car's windscreen. The two men have been charged over that incident and are due to face the court again in March.

Police said the two attacks, the first against Indians in Queensland this year, were not linked and were not racially motivated.

Nearly 100 cases of attacks on Indians were reported in Australia in 2009. Nitin Garg, a 21-year-old student who was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants, was the first victim of such attacks this year.