A Sikh professor at Columbia University has been attacked and injured by a mob of up to 30 people who called him “Osama” and “terrorist” during a brutal assault which the police is investigating as a hate crime.
School of International and Public Affairs professor Prabhjot Singh was assaulted on Saturday night while walking in the Harlem neighbourhood near here.
“There was a group of 25 to 30 young men. One of them said, ‘Get him, Osama’,” 31-year-old Singh, who suffered a fractured jaw, was quoted as saying by the New York Daily News.
“I got punched directly in the face about three times.”
Mr Singh said he was on the ground being kicked when passersby intervened, saving him.
“I’m grateful to them,” said Mr Singh, who is married and has a young son. “It could have been a lot worse.”