An Indian student wrongly accused of sexual abuse and targeted with “racist” barbs and death threats in New Zealand is now seeking justice, a media report said.
A photo of Rajwinder Singh riding a bus in the city of Christchurch in New Zealand went viral after it was uploaded on the popular social media site Facebook in January with an accompanying message accusing him of molestation, stuff.co.nz reported on Tuesday.
"Please be aware of this guy," the message said.
"He molested a friend of mine a while back ad (sic) was let away with 'a warning'. He has since committed the offence again," the post said.
It asked people to share the photo, and it attracted hundreds of comments.
Many outlined various warnings of violence should Singh be identified, and others wrote death threats.
Some comments were racially charged, labelling him a "terrorist", mocking his turban and calling for his deportation.
However, Singh, who arrived in New Zealand seven months ago from India for studies, was unaware of the brewing social media storm until his boss called him.
"He told me to go on my Facebook page, because they identified where I work," Singh said.
The photo circulated for eight or nine weeks before it was taken down, he said.
He had no idea who took the photo or why it was uploaded.
Singh has since contacted the Canterbury police and Victim Support. Police told him they could not help, he said.
Victim Support said it had passed on his details to a coordinator to "advise you of what, if anything, Victim Support can do for you around this matter". Singh has not heard anything since.
An apology on the "Missing Persons Christchurch and Canterbury" Facebook page three weeks after the page first posted the photo, asked for forgiveness.
"OK that post is deleted," the new message said.
Singh, who lives with his aunt and uncle, said the situation had affected not only him, but also his family.
"It's really affected me, and my family are really scared," he said. "I can't go outside at night now."
While it had not changed his positive perception of New Zealand, Singh said the online attack had left him with one question: "Who will be responsible?"
Singh said he now wanted to raise awareness in New Zealand about "my culture and people".
