by Bryan Gibel
Daily Lobo
More than 20 male Indian students were physically assaulted by a man on and around campus in the last four months, the president of the India Students Association said.
Bhavana Upadhyaya said the attacks follow a similar pattern: Indian men are approached in broad daylight by a man who kicks them to the ground. He then says "Namaste" - a traditional Indian greeting - and flees the scene, Upadhyaya said.
"Our Indian community does not feel safe," she said. "We feel attacked very specifically. A lot of our students have been beaten up, and there is a deep sense of insecurity."
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The attacks happened near the campus entrance at Central Avenue and Cornell Drive, Upadhyaya said.
Five Indian students met with the UNM Police Department and an Albuquerque Police officer Monday.
They told police the attacks happened in front of the Bookstore, in the Frontier Restaurant and at the intersection between the two locations.
The students said the attacks seem to have been done by the same man.
Detective Robert Rush of UNM Police said it's too early to say for sure.
The police would not release the man's description.
Sgt. John Guilmette of the Albuquerque Police Department said the most important thing the students can do is report any attacks immediately.
Guilmette said the department is stretched thin on resources, but can notify bicycle police about the incidents and send plain-clothes officers to
the area.
Police can't arrest anyone because the crimes are misdemeanors that weren't committed in the presence of an officer, he said.
The attacks probably aren't hate crimes, Guilmette said.
He said the man is most likely mentally disturbed and not specifically targeting Indians.
"I can guarantee you, you're not the only people getting hit by this guy," he said. "If he's that angry, I guarantee he's hitting other people, too."
The students realized the attacks were related when several students sent e-mails to the India Student Association on Thursday, Upadhyaya said.
"We had no idea there was a pattern," she said. "Reports are just pouring in now."
Upadhyaya said she sent
messages through UNM e-mail lists asking students if they had been attacked, but only Indian students and one Sri Lankan
responded.
She said the attacks are motivated by ethnicity, and police are not taking the incidents seriously enough.
"I do not deny that the person needs mental help, but there is a racial motivation behind these attacks," she said. "I do strongly consider them to be hate crimes."
The UNM Police Department is investigating the attacks as hate crimes, said Lt. Pat Davis, spokesman for the department.
Student Ketan Bharatiya said he was assaulted while waiting to cross Central Avenue on Cornell Drive.
"This man was standing next to me and staring at me," he said. "I looked at him and smiled out of courtesy. Suddenly, he kicked me and sent me sprawling like five or six feet."
Bharatiya said the man then stood over him and threatened him with a screwdriver.
"When I got kicked, I said, 'Are you mad?'" he said. "Then, I saw he was holding a screwdriver in his hand, so I left immediately. This was at the Frontier at, like, 12 noon, during peak hours."
Student Anand Ganti said he was crossing Central Avenue in August when a man ran at him and kicked his abdomen, knocking him to the ground.
The man stopped to say "Namaste" before running away, Ganti said.
He said the same man kicked him in the back Sept. 6.
He filed police reports for both incidents, Ganti said.
Upadhyaya said the attacks have become more frequent over the past five weeks.
There has been at least one attack reported every week since the end of July, and the police need to take the incidents more seriously, she said.
"We want a better response from the UNMPD and the APD," she said. "They are saying, 'If you see something, then do something about it,' and that doesn't work."
Student Ankur Tangirala said he was attacked twice by the same man in the past several months.
He said the police and UNM community need to do everything possible to stop the attacks and prevent the situation from escalating.
"What if this man gets a weapon and breaks into Indian people's houses?" he said. "What if this turns into something like Virginia Tech? That's my biggest fear."
