Sikh Beaten Unconcious in Queens

by Mike Liu
7/16/04

On July 11th a 54year old Sikh man was viciously beaten by a group of men yelling hate epithets in Queens. Two men kicked and punched Rajinder Singh Khalsa Sunday by men shouting, "Go back to your own country." He was left with unconscious with multiple fractures to his nose and eye socket from the beating outside a Richmond Hill catering hall.

The attack started when a man and his companions asked Gurcharan Singh, who was with Rajinder Singh, to "give me my curtain." When Gurcharan Singh asked what the man meant, he point to Gurcharan Singh's turban and said, "that is my curtain give it to me."

Gurcharan and Rajinder Singh then tried to explain to the men the significance of the turban as part of the Sikh religion. When Gurcharan Singh called the police, one of them said "I will come back here and kill you." They went into a restaurant and returned with other men and assaulted both Singhs.
One man, Salvatore Maceli, 26, has been and confessed to assaulting Rajinder Singh. Prosecutors will charge the man with a bias crime. Police, however, released five other men suspected of taking part in the beating.

Community groups rallied in front of steps of Queens Borough Hall to protest the attack dedicated to ending bias crimes in New York City.At least one group, the Sikh Coalition, has demanded that police investigate the assault more aggressively.