Sikh man attacked with hammer by hate-fuelled Black assailant in US
New York, May 4: A Sikh man was attacked with a hammer by a Black assailant who shouted at him "I don't like you" and "You're not the same skin" at a hotel in Brooklyn here, prompting a prominent New-York based advocacy group to call on investigators to examine if the assault was a hate crime incident.
Sumit Ahluwalia, 32, of Astoria has said his assailant was fuelled by racial hatred, according to a report on New York Daily News website.
Ahluwalia said the man, a Black, assaulted him on April 26 at his workplace, the Quality Inn in Brownsville. He said the man came into the lobby of the hotel at around 8 am and started shouting while the front desk lady asked him if he needed help.
Ahluwalia stepped into the lobby to speak with the man and to seek the hotel security guard. At that point, the assailant started running towards me, very fast, and he put his hand in the pocket I thought, He's pulling out a gun''', the report said.
Pleading with the man, the victim said, What happened? You're my brother.
The attacker responded You're not the same skin, Ahluwalia said, adding that the man then banged on my head with the hammer so hard.
The assailant then screamed, I don't like you, and ran away, according to the report.
It said the victim couldn't feel what happened with me and was eventually taken to an emergency room.
I couldn't sleep. I had a big bump on my head. I could fall feeling dizziness, and the next morning I went to the doctor, he said, adding that five days later, he was still feeling anxious and fearful.
I didn't do anything I don't deserve this. I'm a hardworking guy, wake up in the morning 6 a.m. and go home at 7 pm, he said.
Police have released pictures of the suspect, who was still being sought.
Advocacy group The Sikh Coalition said its legal team is providing free legal services to Ahluwalia.
We have already been in direct communication with law enforcement and demanded that investigators examine the real possibility that bias was a motive, it said, adding that anyone with information about the incident should contact the New York Police Department.
The tragic incident comes as the US has witnessed a recent wave of anti-Asian hate crimes during this pandemic.
Eight people, including four Sikhs, were killed in a mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis last month.
In March last year, a man stabbed two Asian American children - aged 2 and 6 - and their father at Sam's Club in Texas because he thought the family was Chinese, and infecting people with the coronavirus.
A group of Democratic Senators in May last year said there has been a surge in hate crime against Asian-Americans amid coronavirus pandemic and had urged the Trump administration to take concrete steps to arrest the spike.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
