14-year-old Sikh boy was assaulted by a classmate in Kent, Washington.
Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from the Embassy of India in the United States on the incident on a reported assault of an Indian American Sikh boy at a school in the state of Washington.
The 14-year-old boy was beaten up by a classmate at their school in Kent City, Washington. The victim’s parents have termed the incident as a racist attack and he was targeted because of his heritage, the local media reported.
The video of the assault, recorded in CCTV, has gone viral on social media. It shows the attacker following the Sikh boy, beating him up and knocking him to the ground.
Once fallen, the boy was not spared, as the assaulter repeatedly punches the victim, who can be seen trying to protect himself.
Family of this #KentRidge high school freshman fear their sons attack caught on #Snapchat was racially driven. Story in minutes on #KIRO7 pic.twitter.com/7gpE09s1YD
— KIRO 7 Jussero (@JJusseroKIRO7) November 1, 2017
The father of the Sikh student alleged that his son was targeted because he belongs of his Sikh heritage.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj became aware of the incident after the reports about the incident were published by Indian media.
Swaraj has directed the Indian Embassy to send a detailed report on the incident as early as possible, saying that the government of India has taken the issue seriously.
“I have seen news reports about the beating of a Sikh boy in the US. I have asked the Indian Embassy in the US to send me a report on the incident,” Swaraj said in a tweet.
I have seen news reports about the beating of a Sikh boy in US. I have asked @IndianEmbassyUS to send me a report on the incident.
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) November 4, 2017
The victim’s father, who declined to be identified, told IANS that he is pained each time he looked at the video. “I am feeling so, so bad because this happened with my son. They beat him from the backside and hurt him too much. This is a very big thing for me, here in America… I can’t explain… how I am feeling.”
The school authorities have denied the incident was a hate instigated attack, and instead called it a classroom brawl.
This is the second apparent racist attack reported against Sikh Americans in Kent County in the past nine months.
In March, a 39-year-old Sikh American was shot by a gunman who walked onto the victim’s driveway and shot him after saying “Go back to your own country.”
In another incident in May, staff at the Sound Credit Union in Kent allegedly asked a Muslim American woman to remove her headgear before providing service to her, according to her Facebook post.