During his early morning walk, a 70-year-old Sikh man was attacked in Queens, a borough in New York City in the state of New York, reported ABC7 New York on Monday, 4 April.
The police said that the attack on Nirmal Singh was unprovoked, and left him with a broken nose and other bruises.
Singh, in his native language Punjabi, spoke to Eyewitness News of ABC7 New York, saying that he was punched from behind when he was out on his morning walk on Sunday around 7 am in Richmond Hill, a commercial neighbourhood in New York City.
It is being treated as a hate crime and an investigation is taking place actively, but no arrests have been made so far.
The South Asian community in New York is outraged and concerned for the safety of the Indian diaspora in the area.
Community Activist Japneet Singh believes that the attack on Nirmal Singh was indeed a racial one.
"People come at us a certain way because of the way we look," he said.
He added that within the South Asian community, Sikh men are the most vulnerable to hate crimes because of the turban that they wear.
Nirmal Singh had been in the United States for only two weeks when the attack happened.
(With inputs from ABC7 New York)
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