Peel police say a horrific road rage incident in which a Mississauga man was badly beaten in front of his wife and two young daughters is now being investigated as a hate crime.

Muhammed Abu Marzouk, 39, remains in intensive care at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto where he underwent emergency surgery after suffering a large brain hemorrhage and multiple fractures in the vicious beating outside Mississauga Valley Community Centre and Library on the night of July 15.

The incident occurred just before 9:30 p.m. when Abu Marzouk was leaving the parking lot with his family after a picnic outdoors near the community centre.

He backed out of his parking spot and nearly hit a passing car.

Abu Marzouk got out of the vehicle and the men attacked him, punching and kicking him repeatedly while his wife, two young daughters, aged six and four, and other family members looked on in horror, said his younger brother Ahmed.

“You don't keep kicking a man when he's down laying in the ground in a pool of his own blood,” said Ahmed. “You don't keep kicking a man's wife trying to cover her husband's head laying on the ground.”

Ahmed said he and family members have spoken to police, reporting the attackers used hateful language and called his brother an “Arab” and a “terrorist.”

Abu Marzouk's wife and another man were also assaulted in the incident, suffering minor injuries.

Police said in a statement Wednesday, July 18 that "racially-based comments" were uttered at the victim, prompting investigators to call it a "hate-motivated crime."

Friend of the family Ibrahim Hindy said he has visited Abu Marzouk in hospital. He said the attackers also told Abu Marzouk to “go back to your country” while they were beating him.