70-year-old Sikh man in US thrashed with golf club near gurdwara, critical

A 70-year-old Sikh man was attacked with a golf club in North Hollywood, leaving him critically injured. The victim reportedly suffered from broken facial bones and bleeding in the brain. According to his brother, he has undergone three surgeries. The Sikh community in Los Angeles condemned the attack and also sought increased police protection in the area.

A video taken after the attack shows Singh sitting on the pavement in a pool of his own blood, with the golf club used to attack him lying at his feet.

Harpal Singh was attacked by an unidentified suspect while he was taking his daily walk near a Gurdwara in Los Angeles last Monday.

His brother, Gurdial Singh Randhawa, said Singh was totally unconscious. "He is totally unconscious; they keep him under sedation," Randhawa was quoted as saying by Fox 11 Los Angeles.

So far, no arrest has been made in the case, and investigators say they are not looking into the attack as a hate crime.

Witnesses reportedly told Los Angeles Police Department officers that the suspect was a man in his 50s. Police said the suspect is a man who was riding a bike at the time of the attack.

Friends of the victim said the 70-year-old enjoyed feeding the birds in the parking lot behind the convenience store near the Gurudwara, according to a California-based news portal, KTLA.

Harpal would visit the Gurdwara of Los Angeles for daily prayer and meditation, according to the report.

THE SIKH COMMUNITY HAS SOUGHT INCREASED POLICE PROTECTION IN THE AREA

Gurdial Singh Randhawa, the brother of the victim, led a prayer for healing with the Sikh community on Monday, 11th August.

The Sikh community is now demanding increased police protection following the brutal attack.

The 70-year-old barely survived the attack but has been in the hospital, unresponsive and in critical condition, ever since. He's undergone three surgeries in the past week for broken facial bones and bleeding in the brain, ABC7 reported.

"Brutally attacked. I don't know how god saved him. He was almost dead," ABC7 quoted Randhawa as saying.

"The fact that this happened and no one came to stop it until the point that Singh was left in such critical condition has absolutely spread fear in our community," said Munmeeth Kaur, the legal director of the Sikh Coalition, ABC7 reported.

"We are asking, we're demanding, that there be increased security in this area so that our community can freely move about and feel at ease to be able to be here, to be walking," Kaur was quoted as saying by ABC7.

District 7 LA City council member Monica Rodriguez said, "An assault on any one member of our community is an assault on all of us."

The victim's family has asked people who might have any information about the attack to come forward to share the information.

"Please help us, and if somebody can tell us more, something more could happen; we would really appreciate it," Randhawa was quoted as saying by ABC7.

- Ends