Indian cabbie bashing stirs up strong protests in Adelaide

Adelaide, May 19 : In a second similar incident in less than three weeks in Australia, strong protests by taxi drivers' continued for two days on the streets of Adelaide yesterday, following an incident wherein one cabbie Balraj Singh was brutally bashed up by two unidentified men last weekend.

He was punched in the right eye and had his seatbelt wrapped around his neck by a man in the back seat.

"You're not safe at night time. You don't know the people you pick up, who they are," The Advertiser quoted him as saying from his hospital bed where he was being treated for facial injuries, including a broken nose.

Drivers parked about 50 taxis in front of the Sir Samuel Way courts building in Victoria Square at about 10am. They stayed out the front of the courts building for about 45 minutes, chanting "we want justice" over the bashing the cabbie Singh on the weekend. The convoy of cabs then drove down King William St, with drivers tooting their horns and shouting out the windows, reported the paper.

The protest caused traffic gridlock on the city's main thoroughfare, with buses and trams stopped in their tracks. Police monitored the protest and there was an altercation with some drivers after officers demanded the drivers clear the road.

The convoy proceeded at a snail's pace up King William St and turned left down North Terrace. Near the railway station, about 30 drivers got out of their vehicles, took off their shirts and started chanting, demanding better safety equipment, up-front fares at night and better training.

The men chanted slogans like "we need protection", and said that they were prepared to continue their protest until the State Government legislated for security screens to be fitted inside cabs.

ANI