Police in Melbourne are on the lookout for two absolute ferals who allegedly assaulted a train passenger after they launched a racist and bigoted tirade aimed at two other passengers.
The incident occurred on the Craigieburn line shortly after 3:15pm on Friday, May 15th. The train had just pulled out of Melbourne Central station when three women sat down – the younger of the three sitting next to two mid 20s men wearing high vis work attire.
The men immediately began verbally abusing the three women, who happened to be wearing headscarves – reportedly saying, among other things, “You shouldn’t be wearing that shit in Australia.”
The women verbally defended themselves, asking the men what their problem was, which triggered a heated verbal exchange. The elder of the three women attempted to calm the situation by speaking to her companions – purportedly in Arabic – which drew further racially-charged barbs from the men, including “You shouldn’t be speaking that shit in Australia.”
The women exited the train at North Melbourne station, but not before one of the men called out “I’ll fucking smash ya’” to them as they left. At which point 36 year-old fellow passenger Jason Cias addressed the men and the physical threat, chastising them verbally: “Mate, they’re women.”
Cias states that after this, the men told him to mind his own business, before one of them stood over him and subsequently struck him in his left cheek.
“Even though the guy stood up and was acting aggressively, I didn’t expect to get punched. After that I walked towards him and grabbed his collar and held him at arms length and told him I would be laying charges.”
Witnesses to the altercation captured it one video and in photos via their smartphones. The alleged men left the carriage following the fracas, and Cias and two witnesses exited the train at Kensington station and contacted police, with one of the witnesses stating,
“It was awful to witness that sort of violence in the middle of the day. Jason just said one sentence calmly and (the attacker) was really aggressive at the drop of a hat for no logical reason.”
Cias suffered minor bruising and swelling but no further injuries in the attack, afterwards stating to Fairfax Media how disgusted he was with the whole incident.
“Whether it’s Islamic women or whoever, it’s just not right they can abuse people like that. No one should be doing that to anyone regardless of race or gender or religious creed.”
If you happen to know either of the two idiots in question, or have any information regarding the case, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
Photo & Story via The Age.
