A 22-year-old Indian post-graduate student was attacked, anaesthetised and robbed by unidentified people in Melbourne on Friday, the third such incident in Australia targeting youngsters from the community in recent weeks.
The student, identified only as Sam, was waiting for a bus in St Kilda area when the incident occurred, the police said. Sam, who has lived in Melbourne for the last 18 months, was on his way to an examination at the Latrobe University, where he is doing a Masters degree in Finance.
Detective Senior Constable Mark Sontag told Australian media that it was believed someone approached Sam from behind and put something over his head, which led to him losing consciousness.
The next thing he remembers is waking up and finding his mobile phone and wallet, containing cash and cards, missing.
"It's extremely unusual, I've never seen this method used before in the execution of an armed robbery," Sontag said.
Sam said he remembered smelling something and being very scared. "I gave up and thought maybe I'm going to die," he told the police.
"I was really shocked and scared ... and unthinkable because I have to go to university early in the morning and late at night, so I'm really scared now," he said.
It was the latest in a string of attacks targeting Indian students in Australia.
An Indian student-cabbie was brutally beaten up by two men in Adelaide in the third week of May. Balraj Singh sustained severe injuries on his face and his nose was broken in the attack by the men, who also stole his taxi.
In late April, a 23-year-old Indian student taxi driver, Jalvinder Singh, was brutally stabbed and left bleeding on the roadside in Melbourne.
