Family of Telangana student stabbed in US, seeks assistance; Minister Rama Rao assures support

Hyderabad: The family of a student from Telangana's Khammam, who was stabbed in the US, has requested the state government for assistance, including good medical treatment for their boy, following which Minister KT Rama Rao assured support.

P Varun Raj (24), was stabbed with a knife by a man at a public gym in the Valparaiso city of Indiana state on Sunday morning for reasons that the authorities are still investigating. Varun has been admitted to a hospital and is said to be in a critical condition, according to a media report. The victim's father P Ram Murthy, a teacher, on Wednesday told PTI : "We got information from my son's roommate that he (my son) has been attacked by one person and that he has been admitted to a hospital and that his condition is critical".

Ram Murthy said they have appealed to the Telangana government to help make arrangements for them to fly to the US in case his son's treatment gets prolonged.

In response to the request, Telangana IT Minister K T Rama Rao in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, said, "We will do our best to support Varun with the help of the Indian embassy and also the Telangana NRI friends".

Ram Murthy said he got a call from Rama Rao's team assuring of all necessary help and that he had also met state Transport Minister P Ajay Kumar on Tuesday, who also assured that he will pursue the matter. Varun had been pursuing MS in Computer Science and left for the US in August 2022. He was expected to return home (Khammam) after completion of his course next year, his family said. Varun's aunt requested through the media that proper medical treatment to Varun and response from authorities concerned in the US, be ensured.

"We want justice for our child," she said, adding that the attacker should be handed stern punishment. She further expressed concern on such attacks taking place on students who go from here.