Attack on Sikhs in Sydney: Haryana youth Vishal Jood pleads guilty

Sandeep Dikshit

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 2

A court in Australia sentenced “Tiranga Warrior” Vishal Jood, a youth from Haryana living on an expired visa, to a prison term for attacking Sikhs in a series of assaults in Sydney.

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Jood, in jail since April, was on Thursday sentenced by Magistrate K Thompson in a Parramatta Court, said Vivek Asri of NRI affairs, Australia, who has been tracking the case.

The sentence carries six months of parole. As Jood has already spent four months and 17 days in jail, he could become eligible for parole on October 15. However, his expired visa clouds the prospects of his early release as it is likely that he will be sent to a detention centre awaiting deportation.

In a plea bargaining process, Jood pleaded guilty to three main charges. These included “assault, occasioning actual bodily harm in company of others and armed with intention to commit indictable offence”. The other charges were dropped by the prosecution.

Jood’s lawyer Asri told the court that Jood comes from a place where Hindus and Sikhs co-exist “in peace” and argued that his action was spontaneous and out of fear.

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