A six-year-old Indian-origin girl and a Kolkata-born sous chef have become the latest victims of what seems like a growing wave of racially motivated attacks on Indian nationals and people of Indian origin in Ireland.

Despite multiple violent incidents reported over the past few weeks, no arrests have been made so far, deepening fears within the Indian community in the country.

“It started with two stray incidents but many in Ireland are fed up with the deluge of new arrivals who get houses that the Irish people don't,” a Mumbai-based journalist whose daughter lives in Dublin told The Telegraph Online. “So, racism is rising.”

Child attacked outside her home

A six-year-old girl, born in Ireland to a family originally from Kottayam, Kerala, was assaulted outside her home in Waterford City, southeast Ireland, at around 7:30pm on Monday.

She was playing with friends when a group of boys and one girl approached her, hurled racist slurs like “dirty Indian” and shouted, “go back to India,” before attacking her, according to reports.

The child was punched in the face, hit in the private parts with a bicycle, punched in the neck and had her hair twisted, according to her mother, who had momentarily gone inside to feed her 10-month-old son.

“I told her I would be back in a second after feeding the baby,” the mother told The Irish Mirror.

But she said the girl-child came back into the house upset after around a minute. The mother said, “She was very upset, she started crying. She couldn’t even talk, she was so scared.”

Recounting what her daughter told her, she said: “She told me five of them punched her in the face. One of the boys pushed the bicycle wheel onto her private parts and it was really sore. They said the F word and ‘Dirty Indian, go back to India.’ She told me today [Wednesday] they punched her neck and twisted her hair.”

The mother, who has lived in Ireland for eight years and recently became an Irish citizen, expressed deep anguish and disappointment.

“I never expected that such an incident would happen. I thought she would be safe here. Even in front of our own house she can’t play safely. I am a nurse, I am doing my best to take care of people. I do my work and I am 100% professional. I changed my citizenship, but still we are called dirty people and even my kids are not safe. We came here to fill a labour gap. We are professionals — we have all the certificates…”

She added that her daughter cried in bed after the incident and is now too afraid to step outside. “We no longer feel safe here, even right in front of our own home. It doesn’t feel like she can play without fear.”

The woman, who studied BSc Nursing at the University of Calicut and went to Mount Carmel Higher Secondary School in Kottayam, has reported the assault to Gardaí (Irish national police).

A Gardai spokesperson confirmed to The Times of India, “Gardaí responded to a report of an alleged assault in the Kilbarry area of Waterford city on the evening of Monday 4 August. Investigations are ongoing.”

While the mother has lodged a complaint with the Gardaí, she clarified that she isn’t demanding punitive action against the children involved. Instead, she hopes they receive counselling and the right support to change their behaviour.

“I don’t know how the government will address this... It is a struggle to come here. We don’t come without qualifications. We are well-trained, and the government needs us,” she told The Irish Mirror.

Indian chef attacked in Dublin

Just two days later, on Wednesday morning, another disturbing incident occurred. Laxman Das, a sous chef from Kolkata working at the Anantara The Marker Dublin hotel, was assaulted by three individuals near the Hilton Hotel while on his way to work. He was hospitalised at St Vincent’s University Hospital with injuries. His mobile phone, cash, and electric bike were also stolen in the attack.

Pattern of targeted violence

These latest cases follow a string of attacks reported across Ireland over the past few weeks. Assaults against Indian-origin individuals occurred on July 19, July 24, July 27, and August 1, including a brutal assault on an Indian cab driver.

In a particularly harrowing incident last month, a 40-year-old Indian man was assaulted and stripped in public by a gang of teenagers in Tallaght, a suburb of Dublin.

Despite rising alarm, Irish police have yet to arrest anyone in connection with these cases.