Syed Mazahir Ali, an Indian student pursuing master’s degree in the United States of America (USA) was the victim of violent robbery near his apartment in Chicago. His wife, Syeda Ruquiya Fatima Rizvi has recounted the details of the harrowing details of the assault.
Rizvi told an Indian media agency that the brutal mugging occurred on February 4, 2024 as Ali was making his way home around 1:18 AM. She said that her husband was accosted by unknown assailants who tried to rob him at gunpoint, inflicting several injuries in the process. “He was returning home around 1:18AM, when they robbed my husband, beat him brutally. They had a gun and they hit him with it,” she said.
Pointing to the CCTV footage which captured the three individuals pursuing Ali, Rizvi said the attackers targeted her husband after observing that he was alone, trailing him before launching their assault.
In a video message filmed right after the assault, Ali was seen bleeding profusely from severe injuries to his face and head. He said in the video that the assailants rained punches on his eye and lows to his face, ribs and back. The robbers fled and made off with his wallet and mobile phone. Rizvi said that after the assault, Ali was in a state of mental trauma, unable to speak and receive adequate care as he is alone in his apartment.
Ali’s family in Hyderabad, India which includes his wife and three minor children are deep concerned about his well-being. His wife Rizvi reached out to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and foreign minister Subramaniam Jaishankar, pleading for assistance to ensure that her husband receives proper medical treatment. Despite her efforts, she said that no one from the government contacted her.
The Indian consulate in Chicago has acknowledged the incident and situation, stating in a post on the social media platform X that it was “in touch with Syed Mazahir Ali and his wife Syeda Ruquiya Rizvi and assured all possible assistance. Consulates has also contacted the local authorities who are now investigating the case,”
Ali who hails from Hyderabad is a master’s degree student at the Indiana Wesleyan University. The attack on him comes in the wake of four Indian stories being found dead in the US this year. Ali had also expressed shock over the incident and had called America as his dream country. A student from the Indiana University called Neel Acharya met the similar fate.
Akin to this incident, another Indian student called Vivek Saini was killed in the US by a man named Julian Faulkner, who struck Saini with a hammer for 50 times. Shreyas Reddy Beniger, a student at the Linder School of Business in Ohio was found dead. Akul Dhawan, the 18-year-old student at the University of Illinois was found dead with signs of hypothermia.
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