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