Two Indians Injured Following Alleged Racial Attack in Silicon Valley

A group of Indians living in a Silicon Valley neighborhood have sought the help of the Indian consulate and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj following an alleged racial attack that left two women injured, the Hindustan Times reported.

Aniruddha Mondal and Monima Nandi, who came to help Sharda KS during an argument with a group of white men, were injured during the incident that allegedly took place on April 22. Mondal, who has a Person of Indian Origin card, said that the altercation happened in front of their house at Dixon Landing Road in Milpitas, California.

“We heard Sharda shouting for help as a group of white people (two men and a woman) were hurling abuses at her. When we tried to intervene, a white person hit me. After a few minutes, Monima was physically assaulted,” Mondal, who got American citizenship in 2016, was quoted as saying in the report.

The abuses and comments hurled by the attackers indicated that the incident was racially motivated, according to Samrat Nandi, Monima’s husband who works for a software firm. By the time Samrat called the police, the attackers had fled. In his Facebook post describing the incident, he said: “Culprits were hurling racial abuses which is recorded in 911 call, comments as – ‘We are whites, what are you going to do to us bi**h’ were shouted while they kept on hitting my friend and my wife.”

All of them live in the same neighborhood except for Mondal, who was visiting the group. Sharda and her husband Prithwi Patil came to the United States six months ago. Although a complaint has been filed with police, action against the attackers hasn’t been taken, Samrat alleged.

He then got in touch with the Indian consulate in San Francisco on April 23, and was assured by Deputy Consul General Rohit Rathish that the matter was being taken forward, the report said. In an email sent to Samrat, Rathish said that the consulate had written to the mayor of Milpitas, the police department as well as Council members “informing them about the incident and requesting their attention to the matter.”

Samrat also tweeted to Swaraj for help, and took to Facebook regarding the incident.

@SushmaSwaraj Hon’ble Madam, while trying to save another Indian lady from assault by white person, my wife got attacked, police report done, criminals free, investigating officer went on leave,we are living under life threat pls help my no. 408-306-3212, employer helping too

— Samrat Nandi (@SamratN22798960) April 23, 2018