Indian student Devarshi Deka was left paralyzed for life after he was brutally assaulted in Australia. Last year, he came to Australia to pursue a master’s degree in professional accounting at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) in Hobart. The alleged assault left him in a medically induced coma and after three and a half months, he has regained consciousness.
Last November, Dev went out with friends in Hobart after securing a part-time job. Unfortunately, the evening in Salamanca concluded with him being taken to the hospital due to the assault. Instead of starting his new job the following day, he went into a coma. He currently faces a significant brain injury that has affected his left eye’s vision and rendered him unable to walk. “It was my dream to come to Tasmania, to Australia,” he said. He had given up a government job in India to live his dream with ambition and excitement. Describing his situation as “very bleak and grim,” he mentioned needing assistance from nurses even for basic movements on the bed. Upon regaining consciousness, he noticed a profound change in himself. “My body has a mind of its own. It doesn’t want to move according to my wish like I was before,” Dev told the media. However, the 32-year-old’s hopes became a nightmare with lifelong consequences. He said, “I had a dream to make something for myself.”
Dev is grateful for the lifesaving treatment he received at the Royal Hobart Hospital and the ongoing care at the city’s repatriation center, where he is currently being taken care of. “This support is going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, which not us, not his parents, not the community can afford right now. And that is why our ask is for the government to help us so that we can make arrangements for Dev when gets out of here,” said his friend Rishabh Kaushik. Being an oversee student, Dev cannot access the National Disability Insurance Scheme or Centrelink.