New Delhi: A student hailing from Hyderabad suffered injuries in an assault by four armed robbers near his residence in Chicago. A video captures the injured student, bleeding heavily, recounting that he was kicked and punched by the assailants who also snatched his phone.
The incident has raised concerns, particularly given the recent deaths of four Indian-origin students in the United States this year.
Syed Mazahir Ali, a Langar Houz resident in Hyderabad, had traveled to the US to pursue a Master’s degree at Indiana Wesleyan University. CCTV footage depicts Ali being pursued by three attackers close to his Campbell Avenue residence in Chicago during the early hours of Tuesday (Central Standard Time).
Syed Mazahir Ali, a resident of Langar Houz in Hyderabad, had gone to the US to pursue a Master’s degree from the Indiana Wesleyan University. CCTV footage shows Ali being pursued by three of his attackers near his house on Campbell Avenue in Chicago in the early hours of Tuesday (Central Standard Time).
Blood streaming down his forehead, nose and mouth, Ali can be heard saying in a video, “Four people attacked me. I was returning home with a food packet in my hand. I slipped near my house and the four people kicked and punched me. Please help me, bro. Please help me.”
Last week, the lifeless body of 19-year-old Shreyas Reddy Beniger, a student at the Linder School of Business in Ohio, was discovered. Shreyas, who held an American passport but had parents residing in Hyderabad, had no signs of foul play, according to authorities.
Earlier that same week, the lifeless body of Purdue University student Neel Acharya was found. Acharya’s body was discovered on the university campus, hours after his mother had reported him missing.
Vivek Saini, a resident of Haryana, was brutally attacked and killed by a homeless man in Lithonia, Georgia, on January 16.
Saini, a 25-year-old MBA student, worked part-time at a convenience store where a homeless man, identified as Julian Faulkner, sought shelter. Saini had reportedly been providing the man with chips, water, and even a jacket on occasions. However, on January 16, he allegedly refused to provide Faulkner with free food, leading to the homeless man assaulting him 50 times.
In a separate incident, Akul Dhawan, another Indian student, was discovered dead near the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in January. Although the 18-year-old’s post-mortem report suggested hypothermia as the cause of death, his parents filed a complaint, accusing the university’s police department of negligence and inaction after reporting him missing.