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Amid a spate of recent attacks on Indians in Ireland, an Indian-origin woman has alleged that her 60-year-old father was racially harassed and subjected to inappropriate behaviour by two young boys at a bus stop in Dublin.
In a Reddit post on August 9, she recounted waiting for a bus with her father and sister when the boys, believed to be around seven or eight years old, approached. They first asked for selfies but soon began mocking her father, with one allegedly trying to grab his wallet.
“We tried to stay calm and ignored their behaviour. But then, shockingly, one boy blocked my father’s way, made grabbing gestures toward his crotch,” she wrote, saying the ordeal left her family “feeling defenceless.”
“My father, aged 60, was harassed by a child right in front of his daughters, leaving us feeling defenceless. Knowing the current climate for people of colour in Ireland and being aware of the laws, it was frustrating not to have any immediate recourse,” she said.
Citing the “current climate for people of colour in Ireland,” she urged the Irish government to amend laws so that children can be held accountable for serious misconduct. “No one should have to feel unsafe or powerless in public spaces, regardless of their background,” the post read.
Multiple attacks against Indians raises concerns
The incident comes after an Indian-origin taxi driver and a six-year-old Indian girl were attacked in separate incidents last week. The Indian Embassy in Ireland has issued an advisory urging the community to stay vigilant, while the Irish Embassy in India condemned the violence, calling it “an assault on the values of equality and human dignity that Ireland holds dear.”