Syed Mazahir Ali is a Master’s student at the Indiana Wesleyan University.
A student from Hyderabad has been injured after being attacked by four armed robbers near his house in Chicago. A video shows the student, who was bleeding profusely, stating that he was kicked and punched by the robbers and that his phone was snatched.
The attack has sparked concern, especially as it comes in the wake of four Indian-origin students being found dead in the United States this year.
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 Mr 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, Mr 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, 19-year-old Shreyas Reddy Beniger, a student at the Linder School of Business in Ohio, was found dead. Shreyas’ parents live in Hyderabad but he held an American passport. Authorities had ruled out foul play in the case.
Earlier that week, Purdue University student Neel Acharya was found dead. A body, identified as that of Acharya, had been found on the university campus, hours after his mother had reported him missing.
Vivek Saini, from Haryana, was hammered to death by a homeless man in Georgia’s Lithonia on January 16.
Saini, who was pursuing an MBA, worked part-time at a convenience store where a homeless man took shelter. The 25-year-old had reportedly given the man – Julian Faulkner – chips, water and even a jacket from time to time. On January 16, he reportedly refused to give Faulkner free food, leading to the homeless man hitting him 50 times.
Akul Dhawan, another Indian student, was found dead outside the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in January. While the 18-year-old’s post-mortem report indicated that he had died of hypothermia, his parents filed a complaint, accusing the university’s police department of negligence and inaction after he was reported missing.
