New York: In yet another case of hate crime, an elderly Sikh-American man was brutally assaulted and injured in Chicago. Inderjit Singh Mukker was attacked when the accused allegedly pulled up to his car yelling racial slurs including, “Terrorist, go back to your country, Bin Laden.” A US citizen and father of two, was on his way to a grocery store when he was repeatedly cut off by a driver. When he pulled over to the side of the road to let him pass, the driver instead pulled in front of his car and aggressively approached Mukker's vehicle, according to information given by the Sikh Coalition, a community-based organisation. The accused then allegedly reached into the car and repeatedly punched Mukker in the face, causing him to lose consciousness, bleed profusely and suffer a fractured cheekbone and a laceration to his cheek. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he received 6 stitches and treatment for lacerations, bruising and swelling.
“No American should be afraid to practise their faith in our country,” Mukker said. “I'm thankful for the authorities' swift response to apprehend the individual but without this being fully investigated as a hate crime, we risk ignoring the horrific pattern of intolerance, abuse and violence that Sikhs and other minority communities in this country continue to face.” The Sikh Coalition's Legal Director Harsimran Kaur said the group believes that he was “targeted and assaulted because of his Sikh religious appearance, race or national origin.”
“We request an immediate investigation and call on local and federal agencies to investigate this attack as a hate crime,” Kaur said.
