‘Please help’: Video shows Indian student bleed profusely, being chased by 3 masked attackers on streets of Chicago

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, February 7

An Indian student faced a brutal attack in Chicago on Tuesday.

Video footage of the incident shows Syed Mazahir Ali walking on a road and three masked men chasing him. Another video clip shows the profusely bleeding victim narrating the incident.

.@DrSJaishankar Sir, One Syed Mazahir Ali from Hyderabad, Telangana pursuing Masters in IT from Indiana Weslay University was robbed & attacked on 4th Feb by four persons in Chicago, Since this attack Syed Mazahir Ali is under mental shock and is in need of help.Ask… pic.twitter.com/Cf2jeMAvPw

— Amjed Ullah Khan MBT (@amjedmbt) February 6, 2024

Ali, pursuing Masters in information technology from Indiana Wesleyan University, was attacked and robbed by three men at Campbell Avenue.

Ali's wife Syeda Ruquiya Fatima Razvi, who lives in Langar Houz area in Hyderabad, on Tuesday appealed to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to help in ensuring best medical treatment to him.

In a letter to the minister, she requested that arrangements be made for her travel to the US along with their three minor children. She said she received a call from her husband's friend that he was attacked and robbed at Campbell Avenue when he was near his apartment. He was taken to a hospital.

Fatima said she got in touch with her husband after some time but he was in shock and was unable to talk to her. She wrote that she was worried about the safety of her husband.

With blood oozing out from his forehead, nose and mouth, he said he was returning home with a food packet when four men chased and attacked him. "I slipped near my house and they punched and kicked me and snatched my mobile phone," Ali said pleading for help in the video.

Following the attack, the Indian Consulate in Chicago has stated that it is in touch with Ali, as well as his wife in India.

The Indian mission has assured all possible assistance to Ali, who hails from Hyderabad, and his family.

"Consulate is in touch with Syed Mazahir Ali and his wife in India, Syeda Ruquiya Fatima Razvi and assured all possible assistance," the Indian Consulate in Chicago wrote in a post on X.

The Consulate has "also contacted the local authorities who are investigating the case." Videos on social media that surfaced showed Ali bleeding heavily as he described the horrific incident.

Meanwhile, another video circulating on social media, which appears to be CCTV footage of the incident, shows Ali being chased by three attackers on the streets of Chicago.

The incident took place at a time when attacks against Indian-origin students in the US are on the rise.

Last week, an Indian student in the United States named Shreyas Reddy was found dead in Cincinnati, Ohio. The cause of his death, however, remains unknown as of now.

According to reports, Reddy was a student at the Linder School of Business.

The Indian Consulate in New York expressed regret about the incident and said that it was in touch with his family and was extending all possible assistance to them.

Notably, it was the third death of an Indian student within a span of a week.

On January 30, Neel Acharya, a student at Purdue University, was found dead after being missing for days, according to the Tippecanoe County Coroner.

Similarly, on January 29, another Indian student, identified as Vivek Saini, was brutally killed with repeated blows from a hammer by a homeless man inside a store in Lithonia, Georgia, US.

A video of the incident went viral on social media, but the date of the incident can't be confirmed.

With inputs from Agencies

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