Melbourne/New Delhi, Dec 31 (IANS): One person has been arrested for the attack in Australia on an Indian student who is now in coma, Indian officials said Tuesday.

The Indian consulate in Melbourne was in touch with police and the brother of the student, Manriajwinder Singh, 20, the external affairs ministry said in New Delhi.

Singh was with two friends when he was assaulted by a group of eight men and a woman over the weekend at Princess Bridge in Melbourne.

The Melbourne police have arrested a suspect who has been produced before a judicial magistrate for remand. Two more suspects have been identified, the ministry said.

Singh, a commerce student at a Melbourne university, was punched, kicked and thrown to the ground by the attackers.

He was also allegedly beaten with a stick after he fell unconscious. He is under coma at the Alfred hospital, Melbourne.

His brother Yadwinder Singh urged the Australian government for the perpetrators to be "caught and punished so innocent people like my brother and his friend don't get bashed like this".