Hindu Priest attacked near New York temple, police probing whether incident was hate crime

A Hindu priest has been attacked near New York temple in New York City in United States on July 18, say reports. attacker has been arrested by police and y are probing wher incident was a hate crime or if re was any or motive, reports ded.

As per reports, priest, Swami Harish Chander Puri, was brutally attacked near Shiv Shakti Peeth in Glen Oaks at 11.00 am on Thursday. attacker allegedly came from behind as Puri, clod in his religious garb, was walking down street. attacker hit him repeatedly after sneaking behind him. Puri was rushed to hospital soon after attack. attacker allegedly yelled “this is my neighbourhood” during incident, reports ded.

An NYPD spokesperson said victim was taken to a hospital after being punched and hit with an object believed to be an umbrella. victim suffered cuts to his he, se, chest, arms and legs, spokesperson said. As per reports, attacker has been identified as Sergio Gouveia. police have booked him with charges related to assault, harassment and criminal possession of a weapon.

"I commend NYPD for making a swift arrest in this case and I'm confident that justice will be served. I stand with Hindu community and wish victim a full recovery," Rep. Grace Meng, D-New York, said in a statement. Re full statement below:

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Hindu community has expressed concerns over attack. A worshipper said to media that priest's garb me him stand out, while or said community is worried about what is happening in ir neighbourhood.  priest is on his way to making a full recovery and has said that he will be praying that for attacker.

A Facebook group called 'Shana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus' posted informing  people about incident. With a mess of peace, post attributed incident to President Trump's veiled racist attack on Congresswomen who are people of colour and immigrants. It said, "When US President targets immigrants and refugees and encours chants of "send her back" at rallies, this results in real harm inflicted on our communities... May justice be served, and may love prevail over this hate we are seeing here and all over country. We all belong here! Om Shanti."

US President Donald Trump h called on four Democratic congresswomen to “go back” to ir “broken and crime-infested” countries in tweets that have been widely deunced as racist. His remarks were directed at Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. All are American citizens, and three of four were born in U.S.

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