Sikh professor attacked in possible hate crime in US, assailants called him Osama

School of International and Public Affairs professor Prabhjot Singh was assaulted on Saturday night. (Reuters)

A Sikh professor at Columbia University has been allegedly attacked by a group of men who called him "Osama" and "terrorist" in an assault which the police is investigating as a hate crime.

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School of International and Public Affairs professor Prabhjot Singh was assaulted on Saturday night while walking in the Harlem neighbourhood near New York.

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In an online post, Singh's friend Simran Jeet Singh, who is a doctoral candidate in religion at Columbia, said the father of one had been "brutally attacked" on the street and had been rushed to the hospital "bloody and bruised, his face swollen from a fractured jaw."

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The young professor could not speak because many of his teeth had been displaced, Jeet Singh said in the post 'Hate Hits Home: When My Friend Became A Target' published on the HuffPost website.

"Last night, I received the kind of phone call that everyone dreads: a close friend was hurt, and on his way to the hospital. But the news got worse, as I learned that my

friend, Dr. Prabhjot Singh, a young Sikh American professor at Columbia University, had been brutally attacked on a public street, the victim of a violent hate crime," the post said.

While in hospital, Singh told police that his assailants taunted him and beat him, calling him "Osama" and "terrorist" as they pulled at his long beard. He was repeatedly punched in the face and head as he lay on the sidewalk.

Singh had returned from dinner, dropping his wife and one-year-old son at home before going for a walk.

While being attacked, he saw one of the assailants put his arm inside his coat as if reaching for a gun. Singh was unable to provide any descriptions about his assailants.