By Neeraj Nanda
Melbourne, Dec 22, 2011: A Melbourne teenager has been sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for the killing of Indian overseas student Nitin Garg one year back. The teenager will serve minimum of 8 years imprisonment and after that will be eligible for parole.
Delivering the verdict, the judge said Nitin Garg was knifed with a folding knife for his mobile phone and that he “was an innocent and random victim” and it was his presence in the park, not his race, that led to the fatal attack.
The killing of Nitin Garg had led to diplomatic tensions between India and Australia. The tragedy came amidst many other attacks on Indian overseas students in Melbourne and Sydney. The attacks led to a dramatic decline in Indian students coming to Australia for studies.