NEW DELHI: The Australian High commission expressed regret over the incident of assault on an Indian-origin taxi driver in the country's southern state of Tasmania last weekend. "We regret the attack on taxi driver of Indian origin in Hobart , who suffered minor injuries and was discharged. We place great importance on safety, security of everyone who resides in Australia, including our Indian community," the diplomatic mission said in a statement.Li Max Joy, who is pursuing a nursing course and working as a part time taxi driver in Australia, alleged that five people including a girl hurled racial abuses like "you bloody black Indians" at him and assaulted him outside a fast food restaurant at North Hobart in the state.The Australian High Commission assured that the matter is currently under investigation and the alleged racial bias to the attack will be thoroughly probed. "We understand that whether the assault was racially-biased will be a component of the investigative facts," it said.Joy, who hails from Kottayam, Kerala, sustained deep wounds on his face and chest and was admitted to the Royal Hobart Hospital following the attack.He has requested foreign minister Sushma Swaraj to intervene in the matter after alleging that there were no serious efforts from the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.The incident comes close on the heels of another racially-motivated attack on a person of Indian origin. Last week, Catholic priest Tomy Kalathoor Mathew was stabbed in the neck at a church in Melbourne by a man who called him unqualified to say mass as he was an Indian, prompting the Indian consulate to take up the matter with the police.

Source: Times of India March 27, 2017 09:20 UTC