Chicago teen sentenced to community service for assaulting Sikh American

 

CHICAGO (Diya TV) — The Chicago teenager who beat Sikh American Inderjit Singh Mukker last year has been sentenced to 200 hours of community service and two years of probation, according to the Chicago Tribune. Additionally, he was ordered to pay Mukker’s medical bills which were not covered by his insurance — roughly $5,000 — as well as counseling for anger management, cultural awareness, and substance abuse.

“Since Mr. Mukker was viciously assaulted last September, we have seen a meteoric rise in hate crimes against Sikh Americans as xenophobic political speech has increased,” Harsimran Kaur, legal director of The Sikh Coalition, told NBC News. “Charging the assailant with a hate crime is an important step towards addressing the broader epidemic. We hope that the 200 hours of community service are spent with the Sikh American community in an effort to further educate.”

If he fails to complete the grants of his probation, the assailant will be ordered to serve 15 days in a detention center.

The attack took place last September when Mukker, a U.S. citizen and father of two, was sitting in his car in a left-turn lane when the driver in the car next to him began yelling obscenities and racial slurs, including “Bin Laden,” and “terrorist.” After the light turned green, Mukker pulled his vehicle to the side of the road to allow the other car to pass. Instead, the other driver stopped in front of him, exited their vehicle, and began repeatedly pummeling Mukker with punches through his open car window.

Mukker lost consciousness for 10 to 15 minutes as a result of the attack.

 

For two months after his wounds had healed, Mukker said he could not work his regular job as a taxi driver. Now, nearly seven months later, Mukker maintains he’s still unable to work as many hours as he was once able to support his family. His bills have begun piling up, as a result.

“My income has fallen dramatically,” Mukker wrote in a statement read by Assistant State’s Attorney Audriana Anderson. “I have fallen behind on my mortgage.”

The assailant, a juvenile, was 17 at the time the crime was committed, and was initially charged with five counts of felony aggravated battery. After the intervention of civil rights advocates, the charges were amended to include the inclusion of one count of a hate crime. The juvenile pleaded guilty to the hate crime last December.

In court, the juvenile’s father described multiple troubles which he claims have plagued his sons development and behavior toward others in the community, while at the same time, insisting he was in no way making excuses for the attack. When the boy was young, he became crippled with a disease that paralyzed him, the father said.

“I just really wanted you to understand our circumstances,” the father told the judge.

"We must … do more to combat this problem together” -Harsimran Kaur on hate crime charge: https://t.co/paffipFAMv pic.twitter.com/fhfI7WZFbW

— Sikh Coalition (@sikh_coalition) March 10, 2016

“The importance of a hate crime charge was never about endorsing a harsher penalty for the assailant, but rather ensuring that our government agencies and the American public acknowledge the problem,” Kaur said. “Mr. Mukker’s case is unfortunately not unique and we must continue to do more to combat this problem together as a nation.”