Key Points
- A children's park in Beveridge has been marred with racist graffiti with derogatory terms about Indian people.
- Residents say their peaceful neighbourhood is shocked, and children have been frightened by the vandalism.
- Anyone with any information is urged to contact Victoria Police or Crime Stoppers.
Residents of Beveridge, a small town in Melbourne's far north, say they were shocked on Sunday morning after waking up to racist grafitti at various places in a park located on the corner of Golf Links Drive and Burnett Drive, where their children usually play.
It seems the Indian community was the prime target of the graffiti sprayed around the park, including on rides, slides, an electricity board, bins and other playground equipment.
Speaking to SBS Punjabi, Amarpreet Singh Hansra, a resident of the area, said that his daughter's first question was: "Dad, why people don't like us anymore?"
It's distressing when our kids ask these kinds of questions suddenly out of nowhere.Amarpreet Singh Hansra
Children's playground in Beveridge where the incident happened. Credit: Supplied by Mr Hansra.
"It's absolutely shameful and shocking to see this happen."
Mr Hansra further said that similar grafitti was also found in other parts of the area earlier this month.
"It was obscene but didn't target any particular community, and now putting offensive material in children's park is beyond horrific," he said.
Mr Kawal, another resident, told SBS Punjabi that the estate club condemned the grafitti's slurs.
"The manager of the Mandalay Club says they are doing everything they can to restore the graffitied locations around the estate and calling on the community to come forward with any kind of eyewitness accounts or security camera footage to identify the culprits," he said.
Mitchell Shire Council CEO, Brett Luxford, told SBS Punjabi the council took such matters very seriously.
Mr Luxford said the council was notified of the graffiti in Beveridge on Tuesday, 28 March, and that it had since been removed.
"I encourage anyone with information about the incident to contact Victoria Police," Mr Luxford said.
Victoria Police Barrier Tape, Melbourne, Australia Credit: Nigel Killeen/Getty Images
"We take any report of racism seriously, including in the form of promotional material, and we encourage anyone with information about this type of activity to report it to police," Victoria Police said in a statement given to SBS Punjabi.
They further added that reporting these incidents assisted police in gathering knowledge about racism and discrimination that may require a broader policing response in the community.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Victoria Police on 1800 333 000 or notify the Council by calling 5734 6200.
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Another resident, Harkamal Singh Batth, said he was the one who had swiftly reported the incident to the estate.
A resident of the area since 2019, he said: "So far, the living experience here has been wonderful especially for a young, migrant family like ours, however, this recent incident has greatly frightened our kids. We are looking for answers as to who did this and why.
"We are hopeful preventive measures by the authorities and swift action against the culprits will avoid such instances as we don't want these kinds of tragic incidents to escalate in future."
Reports can be made anonymously to Crime Stoppers Victoria on 1800 333 000.
Click on the audio icon to listen to the interview in Punjabi:
LISTEN TO
Community in distress after racist graffiti found on children's playground.
07:50
