In yet another attack on Indian students here, a 22-year-old youth was punched on his face by a group of Australians, who also told the victim that "in this place there is no home for you".

Sai Ratan Tiwari, who hails from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, was on his way to a temple along with a friend on Sunday when two Australians stopped him and asked where they were going. "I told them I was going home instead of disclosing that I was going to a temple," said Tiwari, who arrived here a year ago to persue Bachelors of Information Systems. Tiwari, a student of Ballarat University, said he was scared to disclose that he was visiting a temple.

"They punched on my face and told me 'in this place there is no home for you'," he said, adding he refused to go to hospital and instead was treated by an on-site ambulance. He said while his friend was trying to make a phone call to police, the attackers snatched the phone and fled the scene.

"We called the police. They arrived after 10 minutes and after that the ambulance arrived. I was unconscious because I had lost a lot of blood," Tiwari said. He said he has already contacted the Indian Consulate General's office here which has given him a doctor's number for any further treatment.

The incident has already been reported to Frankton Police Station. Tiwari is the latest victim of racial attacks in Australia. Last week, 36-year-old Amrit Goyal, an engineering student, was racially abused by a group of Australians, including a woman, who also punched him in his left eye. More than three dozen Indian students have been attacked in various Australian cities since June this year.