A group of five teenagers brutally attacked 33-year-old Saurabh Anand, an Indian-origin man, with a machete outside the Central Square Shopping Centre in Altona Meadows, Melbourne. The incident occurred around 7:30 PM on July 19, as Anand was returning home after buying medicine, as per reports.
While speaking with The Age, Anand said he was on the phone with a friend when he noticed sudden movement near him. “Within seconds, they had surrounded me,” he recalled, adding that he “didn’t hear a sound” before the assault began.
Anand said one of the teens started searching his pockets, while another “kept punching me in the head until I fell to the ground.” Then, a third attacker “pulled out a machete and put it around my throat.”
Anand explained that he instinctively raised his hand to shield his face. “While I was trying to protect myself, the machete just went through my wrist,” he said. The second blow “went through my hand,” and the third “went through the bone.”
The attackers also stabbed him in the back and shoulder. The violent attack left him with a fractured spine, broken arm bones, and serious head wounds.
“I was just trying to survive,” Anand said, adding that his hand was “hanging by a thread.”
After the attack, Anand dragged himself outside the shopping centre, bleeding heavily. “I saw someone and I just yelled out, ‘I’ve been attacked. Please help me’,” he recounted.
Bystanders responded quickly and called triple zero. Paramedics rushed him to Royal Melbourne Hospital, where doctors initially considered amputating his left hand. However, after several hours of emergency surgery, they managed to save and reattach it using screws.
Anand shared that his condition remains uncertain. “The doctors say my injuries are so severe that they’re unsure how this is going to go,” he said. “I cannot move my hand … All I feel in it is pain.”
Police arrested four teenage boys involved in the attack, while the fifth suspect is still on the run.
A 14-year-old from Wyndham has been charged with intentionally causing serious injury and unlawful assault, and will appear before a children’s court on August 15.
Two 15-year-olds from Hobsons Bay also face similar charges. However, authorities released them on bail, and they are due in court on August 11. The fourth suspect is expected to be charged on summons.
Anand expressed dismay over the release of two of the accused on bail. He stressed the need for accountability, saying, “I’m seeking justice. I don’t want anyone else in the community to be going through the same trauma I have.”
