Indian man attacked in Dublin, police call it ‘mindless, racist violence’

An Indian man was assaulted and stripped by a group of men in Dublin, Ireland, in a possible ‘hate crime’. 

The assault on the Indian man by a group on Saturday has been condemned as “mindless, racist violence”, according to a local news channel.

As per reports, an Indian man in his 40s was thrashed by a group of men at Parkhill Lawns in the Kilnamanagh area of Tallaght, Dublin, around 6 pm on Saturday.

The local news reported that the unidentified Indian man is believed to have entered the country several weeks ago.

Following the incident, he was taken to  Tallaght University Hospital for treatment and was released from the hospital early on Sunday morning.

Gardaí, Ireland’s National Police Service, has launched an investigation into the alleged assault.

According to another local news channel, The Irish Times, the group had falsely alleged the man was “behaving inappropriately around children”. The accusation was later amplified online, including by well-known far-right and anti-immigrant accounts. However, the reports stated that there is no evidence to support these claims.

Fine Gael councillor, Baby Pereppadan for Tallaght South, met with the man on Monday, and the Irish Independent quoted him saying, “He couldn’t speak much because of the shock he was in, he only arrived in Ireland three weeks ago. He is not taking any visitors at the moment.”

Condemning the assault, Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra took to his X, “How can an ‘ALLEGED’ assault cause such horrible injury & bleeding? Aghast at the insensitivity & obfuscation of RTÉ News (a local news channel). 

He also thanked Paul Murphy, a People Before Profit TD and the  Irish people for their sympathy and support.

Paul Murphy told a local news channel that the incident is “horrifying”.

He stated that responsibility did not lie only with those who had committed the violence, but also with those who had been spreading racist lies. 

He mentioned that the community was deeply shocked and outraged, and that they would stand united against violence, hatred, and division.

Investigations underway

In a statement, Irish police said, “Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to come forward about an alleged assault at Parkhill Lawns, Kilnamanagh, Dublin 24 on Saturday at 6 pm.”

They are asking anyone, including road users and pedestrians, who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and who was travelling in the area between 6 pm and 7 pm, to make it available to investigating gardaí.

The police have urged anyone with information or who witnessed suspicious activity to contact Tallaght Garda Station at (01) 666 6000, the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111, or any Garda station. They also appeal to the public not to share or repost related social media content to protect the victim’s privacy.