NRI student, a part time Taxi driver stabbed in Melbourne, Australia

 

Melbourne, April 30, 2008
Rupinder Sharma

Jalvinder Singh, 23, student who was working as a part time Taxi driver, is in a serious but stable condition in the Royal Melbourne Hospital after being stabbed. He is in an induced coma from suffering blood loss. He was working as a taxi for only a couple of weeks before the attack. Jalvinder Singh was stabbed about 3am yesterday. His wrecked taxi was found after two hours by two men working in the area .

Parish Charles, 45, was arrested at his Bennett St, Alphington, home at 7.30pm and appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court today facing seven charges including attempted murder and intentionally causing injury. Parish Charles's lawyer Rob Melasecca told the court that he had HIV, mental and other health issues and did not know why he was in court. He had been suffering head pains, electric shock pain and sweats as a result of withdrawal from HIV treatment drugs. It appears that he has no memory of the incident. He has been remanded to custody till July 23, 2008

Immediate hearing began when hundreds of taxi drivers clogged the city as part of a protest over cab safety. Many of Taxi drivers stripped off their shirts and demanded safety measures such as protective screens. They also demanded a meeting with Trransport minister Lynne Kosky.

Taxi drivers who had blockaded the intersection for almost 22 hours and pressure from media:

• The Victorian Government has agreed to foot half the $4.8 million bill for taxi shields, with owners expected to pay for the remaining costs.
• Lynne Kosky, Public Transport Minister reached agreement with taxi drivers.
• Safety screens will be compulsory in all taxis and to install them before Christmas
• Lynne Kosky has agreed to another meeting on Thursday May 15 at Flemington Racecourse to follow up on other issues

Protesters had vowed they would only break up the protest if they were happy with the outcome. The taxi driver representatives met with the taxi directorate and agreed they would try to convince others to march on Parliament House to shift the protest from the city centre.

Jalvinder Singh's family members living in Karnal, Haryana, requested Australian Government to book the accused as soon as possible