US: Indian-American student bullied, choked by classmate in school, video sparks outrage

In a shocking incident, a video of an Indian-American boy being bullied and assaulted by a white student at a school in the United States has flared widespread fury on social media. The video which has been shot by classmates of Shaan Pritmani, an Indian-American, shows Shaan being bullied by a white student who chokes him and drags him out from the bench where he was seen sitting.

In the video, a white student approaches Shaan Pritmani who is sitting on a bench and demands that he stand up. “No, I’m not getting up. There is literally no one sitting here,” Shaan could be heard saying in the video. When Shaan refuses to give up his seat, the white student gets angry and starts choking him as he wraps his arm around Shaan's neck. He also attacks Pritmani with his elbow before choking him and pushing him against his seat. The incident took place on May 11 and is reported to be from Coppell Middle School of Dallas in Texas.

Assaulter gets 1-day suspension, Pritmani 3-days

The North American Association of Indian Students (NAAISORG) which claims to represent Indian-origin students in their interests to foster a community in North America, shared the video on their official Twitter handle and said, ''Disturbing footage of Shaan Pritmani, a middle school student, being assaulted and choked for over four minutes by a white student. The incident took place in a suburb of Dallas, Coppell Middle School. Shaan received three days of suspension while the assaulter received one day." In their tweet, they also claim that following the incident, Pritmani got a three-day suspension whereas his assaulter got only a one-day suspension as the punishment from school authorities.

NAAISORG also shared the footage of the assault on their official Twitter handle and said, "The incident raises concerns about the safety and well being of Indians in schools in the United States as well as the lack of proper support from school administration for situations like these."

The incident sparked anger and criticism on social media where people are calling it a sheer case of racism as the assaulter who is a white guy got only a one-day suspension against Shaan's three-day suspension. One of the Twitter users, Ivry Yoshi reacting to this bully incident said, "Its life-threatening. And they punish the victim? Seriously? Why? Coz he resisted assault? He refused to have his neck broken?"