Yannick before his attack. And Now in hospital.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has ordered a probe into the case of a student from Burundi in Africa, who has been in coma for the last three months after being stoned and brutally beaten in Patiala.
"I hadn't heard of this. I did not get any letter and I will investigate the matter. Everyone will get justice," Mr Badal said today.
The External Affairs Ministry has also taken up the case, and has asked for a meeting with the envoy of Burundi, who has promised legal help to the family of the student.
Yannick Nihangaza, 23, was walking to a party in Jalandhar on April 22. For reasons not clear, he was attacked and stoned, severely beaten and left on the roadside. Strangers took him to hospital. Two people have been arrested by the Jalandhar Police; there are others who are missing.
Yannick was enrolled as a student of B.Sc. Computers, First Year, at the Lovely Professional University.
On June 25, Yannick's father Nestor Ntibateganya wrote to the Chief Minister of Punjab, describing the condition of his son, who lies in a coma in a hospital in Patiala. "I am writing to you as a father writing to another father, someone who has known and experienced love of a child," the man from Burundi wrote. "In a country that I believe to be a civilized one, and where the laws of this land should be respected and evil be punished...the killers who stoned my wholly innocent son and left him for dead are known and still free."
(Read full letter here)However, until yesterday when NDTV aired the story, there had been no response from the Punjab government. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has asked for an explanation why the state officials did not respond to Mr Ntibateganya's letter.
"I don't know how after sending 2 letters he only wakes up now. But now that he has, it is good," Mr Ntibateganya responded.