Gul Dhillon, 22, from Melbourne's north-west said he believed the attacks on the city's cabbies were racially motivated.

"They think, 'he is from another country and they can do whatever they want'. Police don't do nothing," Dhillon said.

Most of the cabbies in Australia's Victoria state are young men from India studying at university and driving taxis on a Friday and Saturday night to earn a living, the Melbourne Leader said.

The taxi drivers came out in protest demanding more security after 23-year-old Jalvinder Singh was stabbed and left to bleed on the roadside on Apr 29 allegedly by a passenger who claimed he was under medication and had no memory of the incident.

Sony Malhotre, 29, who has been driving cabs for over two years, says he had been set upon three times by passengers but stopped contacting the police after the first incident in North Melbourne.

"Police showed after one hour," he was quoted as saying by the Leader. "I went home and didn't work for a week.

"I don't do night shift any more. it's not worth the risk, I have a child," Malhotre said.