- By Supratik Das
- Sun, 27 Jul 2025 09:59 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Melbourne machete attack: In a shocking incident of violent assault, a 33-year-old Indian-origin man, Saurabh Anand, was brutally attacked by a group of teenagers wielding a machete in Melbourne, Australia. The incident occurred around 7:30 pm on July 19, outside the Central Square Shopping Centre in Altona Meadows. The attack left Anand with life-threatening injuries, including a nearly severed hand, which doctors later managed to reattach after emergency surgery. The Australia Today and The Age, in their reports, indicate that Anand was heading home after he had gone to collect medication from a local pharmacy. He was on the phone with a friend when five young men appeared out of nowhere and encircled him. One of the teens raided his pockets, and another struck him in the head until he fell to the ground.
The attack escalated when a third youth pulled out a machete and pressed it against Anand's throat. In a panicked bid to protect himself, Anand defended himself by raising his arm. "The machete went through my wrist. The second one hit my hand. The third cut to the bone," he explained to The Age from his hospital bed. Anand was stabbed several times in his shoulder and back, causing a broken spine, fractured bones in his arms, and serious head injuries. I was just trying to survive. All I remember is the pain, and my hand was hanging by a thread,” he recalled. In spite of his critical condition, Anand was able to walk out of the centre and seek help. People who passed by answered and called the emergency services. He was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where surgeons feared that they would have to amputate his hand. Surgeons, however, conducted hours-long emergency surgery where they put screws in and reattached the limb. “The doctors say my injuries are so severe that they’re unsure how this is going to go. I cannot move my hand … all I feel in it is pain,” Anand added.
Teenage Suspects Arrested; Some Released On Bail
Victoria Police have apprehended four of the five accused in the attack. One of the five, a 14-year-old Wyndham boy, has been charged with intentionally causing serious injury and unlawful assault. He will appear in a children's court on August 15. Two 15-year-old Hobsons Bay boys, also charged with similar offenses, have been released on bail and are due to appear in court on August 11. The fourth suspect is to be charged by summons, while the fifth remains on the run.
Anand voiced his dismay and fear upon hearing that some of the attackers were released on bail. "I want justice. I don't want anybody else in the community to endure the same ordeal I did," he maintained. The violent attack is at a time when there are increasing reports of youth violence in Melbourne and has sparked outrage and shock among the Indian-Australian community.
This incident comes on the heels of another attack last week when another Indian man, Charanpreet Singh, was allegedly racially abused and beaten in a parking altercation in Adelaide. Singh, a student, was accompanying his wife when the incident occurred near Kintore Avenue.