A shaken Melbourne taxi driver of Indian origin, who was stabbed by a fare-evading passenger a few days back, has vowed not to drive taxis again.
Baljinder Singh, 25, sustained stab wounds in his hands and back as he got involved in a scuffle with the passenger he was chasing to collect his fare.
"I don't think I will drive cabs again. I am not scared but there is always a risk to your life," he told News Corporation reporters.
The Indian taxi driver, who has been driving in Melbourne for the last two years, had picked up a young couple from Reservoir suburb and drove them to another northern suburb around midnight.
Instead of paying his $22 fare, the passengers took off. Baljinder left his taxi and chased the male passenger. 'They said they were going inside the house and will get money from there,' a recuperating Singh later told reporters in the hospital.
'He got a $20 note and was looking for the coins, because the fare was $21.80. He just started to run... I chased him and caught him,' Baljinder said, adding:
The young taxi driver is reported to have suffered stab wounds on his left hand, back and a dislocated shoulder in the scuffle. Melbourne Police have charged a 14-year-old boy in the case.
The boy from Melbourne's northern suburbs will reportedly face seven charges, including intentionally causing injury, assault and also possession of cannabis. The teenager has been bailed to appear in a Children's Court in December.
The attack on Baljinder comes after another Indian taxi driver was killed in an accident involving a carjacker. The killing had led to an unprecedented uproar by the Melbournian cab drivers, demanding more safety for the drivers.
Another Indian taxi driver Rajbinder Singh Shahi is behind bars for allegedly killing a teenager passenger by running his cab over him. The boy had allegedly taunted and racially abused Singh who ferried the victim and his friends from city to a close-by suburb.
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