NEW DELHI: Syed Mazahir Ali, an Indian student hailing from Hyderabad, faced a horrifying attack and was robbed of his phone by armed assailants on February 4, in Chicago, US. This incident has fuelled concerns over the safety of Indian students abroad, with a series of recent attacks and tragic deaths reported within a short span of time.
CCTV footage captured the harrowing ordeal as Ali was pursued by three attackers near his residence. Subsequent footage shows him pleading for assistance, his face and head bleeding profusely from severe injuries sustained during the assault. Recounting the incident, Ali described being accosted by four people who subjected him to relentless physical violence before fleeing with his belongings.
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“I was carrying food back home when four people cornered me, and kicked me. They punched my eyes, and they hit me with their legs on my face, on my ribs, on my back, and ran away with my phone. Please help me bro please help me,” he recounted.
Syeda Ruquiya Fatima Rizvi, Ali’s wife, shared the distressing details of the attack, revealing that her husband was returning home around 1:18 am when he was confronted by armed assailants who ruthlessly assaulted him. “He was returning home around 1:18 am when they robbed my husband, and beat him brutally. They had a gun, they hit him with it,” she stated in a letter addressed to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Expressing grave concerns for her husband’s safety, Rizvi urged for swift action to ensure his medical treatment and the well-being of their family. The Indian Consulate in Chicago has pledged to provide all possible assistance to Ali and his family in India.
Ali, a resident of Hashim Nagar, Mehdipatnam, Hyderabad, pursuing his Masters in Information & Technology from Indiana Wesleyan University, is just one among a series of Indian students who have fallen victim to violence in the US. Recent incidents also include the tragic deaths of 19-year-old Shreyas Reddy Beniger from Linder School of Business in Ohio, Neel Acharya of Purdue University, and Vivek Saini in Georgia state, as well as the mysterious death of 18-year-old Akul B Dhawan from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
