A lecturer at the
Dr. Peng Wang was reportedly taking a jog in Woolston, a suburb of Southampton in South East England when four men started berating him with racial insults from inside a car, ITV reports.
“They were saying things like ‘Chinese virus,’ ‘get out of the country’ and dirty words,” Wang said.
He retaliated by shouting back. However, the men got out of their car to physically assault Wang. They punched and kicked him repeatedly while he lay on the ground.
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The 37-year-old victim was assisted by local residents after the attack and taken in an ambulance to University Hospital Southampton.
Originally from China, the educator moved to England in 2014 to pursue a financial management teaching position at the University of Southampton.
Wang is now recovering at home with his wife and 2-year-old son, and he expressed his concerns about the safety of his family.
“I don’t feel it’s safe,” he told the Daily Echo. “I take my son out on the weekend and now I only dare to take him to places where I can meet more people.”
Wang’s face and elbows were severely injured. He required medical treatment to recover, according to the BBC.
“I got very angry because it’s just not civil,” Wang shared. “They hit me quite badly on my face… I left a lot of blood on the ground.”
In a statement, the University of Southampton described the assault as an “appalling and unprovoked attack.”
“Our colleague is receiving support from the university and we will continue to liaise closely with the police,” a university spokesman said.
So far, authorities have arrested a 23-year-old suspect in connection to the incident.
Feature Image via ITV News Meridian
