Three people have been arrested after an imam and his wife were forced off a road and attacked south-east of Melbourne.
Victoria Police said the couple were driving on South Gippsland Highway in Dandenong South on Saturday night when the attack started.
A group of three people driving in a black hatchback allegedly blocked the couple’s car, forcing them into a nearby service station.
The three people are then accused of getting out of their car and racially abusing the couple and damaging their vehicle.
The imam, who the Board of Imams Victoria identified as Bosnia-Herzegovina Islamic Society Noble Park Mosque’s Ismet Purdic, hopped out of the car and was allegedly assaulted.
Passersby who witnessed the incident stopped to intervene when the three suspects jumped back into the car and left.
Purdic condemned the “outpouring of hate”.
“Thank god my children stayed at home. I can’t imagine how horrible it would have been if the children had seen and experienced this,” he said.
Today, police said two men and a woman were arrested in Dandenong South yesterday.
The men, aged 22 and 23 from the Cranbourne area, were charged with criminal damage and common law assault.
The older man was remanded in custody to face Dandenong Magistrates’ Court today while the younger man was bailed and will appear at the same court in May.
The 18-year-old woman from Dandenong South was release pending summons.
Victoria Police said: “There is absolutely no place for prejudice-motivated, religious based or hate-based behaviour in our society and such activity will not be tolerated.”
Multicultural Affairs Minister Ingrid Stitt said this alleged “violent, racist, Islamophobic and misogynistic violence has no place in Victoria and our government condemns it unequivocally”.
“No Victorian should have to worry about whether they are safe driving down the street,” she said.
“Racists will always seek to divide us, but our strength is in our diversity, and we must always stand up to it.”