Woman subjected to man's vile racial attack on Melbourne train
Tuesday's regular train ride home began like any other for Arna Dionysopoulos.
But when a particular man sat down next to her, she instantly knew she was in trouble.
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He spotted Arna's ID tag and noticed her last name was Greek.
That's when he unleashed.
“He was quite angry, he tried to open his headphones, pulled them off and threw them at the door," the second-generation Greek-German told 7 News Melbourne.
"He was saying ‘wogs should get out of Australia, you don't belong here, your country sucks, if I could, I'd put a gun to your head and shoot you’."
Arna said nothing in return, a struggle because his insults were so personal.
"’Your parents don't belong here, why did they even come here?’” she recounted him saying in the middle of the packed Melbourne train.
But she was determined to make sure he didn't get away with his racial rant.
So before getting off at Footscray station she risked her safety and took this photo.
One person did step in and told the man to calm down.
He responded by saying he had four knives and that they should both get off at the next train stop to sort the situation out.
Police say the man faces a number of serious charges, including threats to kill.
"I'm just really glad Arna came forward and told her story to police because often these stories get missed and they go unheard of," Senior Constable Simone Peirce told 7 News Melbourne.
Arna is still shaken up by the abuse and is now using her car instead of the train.
She's hoping it will only be a temporary measure.
Sadly, it's far from the first instance of racism to make headlines in Australia amid some deplorable acts that have outraged millions across the country.
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