Seven men mercilessly bashed up an Indian-origin man publicly in what appeared as a racial attack. The incident took place in UK's Old Trafford area in a packed tram.

Prakash Patel, a bank officer, was served with continuous blows and punches to his face and head by his attackers in the presence of 200 people.

He was returning home with daughter, Devyani Patel, after watching a football match when the men targeted him after hurling racist abuses.

"These men came on and started making indecent racist comments... Myself and my daughter felt distressed about it so I said 'please behave' and that's when it started," Patel told The Mirror.

"There must have been more than 200 people just in our carriage but nobody did anything or said anything. They all just stood and watched us."

Patel, who suffered black eyes and concussions, expressed his reluctance to avail public transport in future.

The CCTV footage from the tram showed the onlookers trying to get a better view of Patel being beaten rather than helping him out.

"You can't see the men but you can see all those passengers watching. ...Some of them were actually jumping up to get a better view," Patel's 21-year-old daughter said.

She claimed that she tried helplessly to push the attackers away from her father and later took him to the hospital alone.

Patel said that he would never again visit the stands to watch a football match.

Great Eastern Police are on the lookout for the attackers and are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

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