Pakistani-Canadian teen left in intensive care after baseball bat attack

The suspects were described as white and his aunt worried the attack was a hate crime

A Pakistani-Canadian teen was beaten brutally by two men in Hamilton while he was on his way home from a friend’s house on Sunday.

Noah Rabbani, 15, has been in intensive care following the attack, his aunt confirmed. "He was just savagely beaten," she said, adding that, "It's just heartbreaking — it's so meaningless, it's so senseless."



The teen underwent a successful surgery to repair a crack in his skull, his family told CBC News. His aunt, Huma Aslam, had initially said he had a blood clot in his brain. He still doesn't have full movement on his right side and is having trouble speaking.

"Noah's doctors indicate that his recovery will be a long process, and he will require extensive dental surgery, physiotherapy, learning aids, house aids, tutoring, etc," someone wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for medical expenses.

Rabbani was walking around midnight on November 27th when a car drove up and stopped beside him, according to a Hamilton Police news release. Two men, one holding a baseball bat, approached Rabbani and hit him with the bat several times. They then grabbed his backpack, got back in the car and drove off.

Rabbani still has a long road to recovery. PHOTO: GoFundMe



The suspects were described as white and his aunt is worried the attack was a hate crime. Rabbani wasn't carrying anything valuable in his backpack, his family said. He also had a watch and carried a phone, but neither of those items were taken.

"Every bone in my body is hoping it's not hate and race related because my mind doesn't even want to go there," she said.

But Hamilton police told the Spectator there is no evidence yet that the teen was attacked because of his race or religion. The teen is still having difficulty speaking so he has not yet been able to give a detailed account of the incident.



Rabbani’s aunt, Salima Hafeez wrote in a Facebook post that her nephew was quiet and kind, as well as a fantastic, well-liked student who has won many academic awards. She said she wants the attackers caught but also wants communities to start talking about racism and Islamophobia, which she sees as being on the rise.

“The number of race-related attacks and vandalism in Canada seems to be increasing in this last month, even as many, like this one, go unreported in the media,” the now deleted post read. “What are we as a community going to do about it? What are our politicians going to do about it?”

This article originally appeared on The Huffington Post.