Victorian police chief Simon Overland has advised Indian students in Australia to keep a low profile and try to look poor to avoid attacks. These remarks drew strong condemnation from the Federation of Indian Student Association (FISA)s with its spokesperson Gautam Gupta  calling the statement ‘ridiculous’ .He said that  Indians need not look “poor” to feel safe.

Oliver advised the Indian students to make themselves less of a target by not displaying their expensive gadgets like ipods, valuable watches or jewellery.

The Victorian Police Chief Commissioner suggested students to take certain precautionary steps which include finding a safer place to live and avoiding public transport into high-risk areas late at night.

However, Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition Executive Director Melba Marginson, who was the organizer of yesterday’s International students safety forum, said Overland was just trying to describe few strategies to the students on how to avoid criminals’ attention.

Overland pointed out that the crimes of robberies were happening against those students who were working as cabbies or store attendants. He assured that police were doing everything they could to stop assaults on overseas students.