Story By: Lee Bullen,Sub Editor: Joseph Golder,Agency: Asia Wire Report

A Singaporean student has shared a viral post of the injuries allegedly caused by a gang of racist thugs on Oxford Street in London who beat him up after shouting COVID-19 abuse.

Singaporean student Jonathan Mok, who has been living in London for two years, has asked for witnesses to come forwards after posting photos of his bruised and battered face that garnered 30,000 reactions, over 5,000 comments and 20,000 shares.

He claimed the incident took place while walking along Oxford Street in London and that his facial injuries may require “reconstructive surgery”.

The student also thanked a woman he said filmed the attacked which has been given to the police.

London’s Metropolitan Police has reportedly confirmed that a “racially aggravated assault” took place on Oxford Street at the date and time specified by the victim.

In his Facebook post, Mok explained the incident in English: “Last Monday, at roughly 9.15pm on Oxford Street in London, I walked past a group of young men, when I saw one of them look at me (just as he walked past me) and said something to me, which I could make out the word ‘coronavirus’

“I was stunned and turned around to have a look at the man made the statement. He was still staring at me as he walked past and realised I was looking at him.

“Within 3 seconds, he was in my face, together with 3/4 other young men, and a young lady (all of whom seemed no older than 20 years old, but were all more than a head taller than me). I was shocked and angry because he directed a racist remark at me and had the audacity to shout at me like I had wronged him.

“All of a sudden, the first punch was swung at my face and took me by surprise. When I was still shocked by the first hit, the guy delivered the second sucker punch. By then, a few passers-by had stopped and one of them tried to reason with them that 4 on 1 was not fair.

“The attacker’s friend tried to swing a kick at me as I was explaining to the passer-by that I hadn’t done anything at all. I tried to react in self-defence but couldn’t do anything substantial because I was still recovering from a broken finger in my master hand.

“The guy who tried to kick me then said, ‘I don’t want your coronavirus in my country’, before swinging another sucker punch at me, which resulted in my face exploding with blood (from my nose), where the blood was splattered all across the pavement.

“Still in daze and shock, the group left promptly from the scene before the police arrived. Following the incident, I followed up with a visit to the A&E and I was told that I had suffered a few fractures in my face and might need to undergo reconstructive surgery to fix some of the bones.” (sic)

The police investigation is ongoing.

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