Advocates suspect a man attacked from behind on his way to the Sikh Cultural Society in Queens is a victim of a hate crime.
Nirmal Singh told CBS New York through a translator that he had been staying at the cultural center after arriving from Canada two weeks ago. A man came from behind and hit him in the face, leaving him bloodied near 95th Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard in South Richmond Hill at 7 a.m. Sunday.
Gurinder Singh spotted the victim.
“We have grandfathers and stuff and seeing such an elderly person being attacked and all bloodied up, and he was worried,” he said to ABC7.
Community Activist Japneet Singh wants the case investigated as a hate crime.
“People come at us a certain way because of the way we look,” he said.
Some fear the attack could have a chilling affect on the entire community.
“Our uncles, our parents, they’re coming to pray and now they’re going to feel scared because they don’t know who is going to be victimized on that kind of situation,” city Human Rights Commissioner Gurdev Singh Kang said.
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