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Maharaj Speaks Out Eight Months After Gruesome Beating

Alysha Sideman in New York

While he is anxiously waiting for his day in court, Rishi Maharaj, who was allegedly attacked and beaten by three white young men in South Ozone Park eight months ago, is not just happy to be alive -- he has started taking part in rallies against racist crimes.

Last week Maharaj joined Parents Against Racist Attacks at a rally in the Bronx to protest the death of Jovan Gonzales, who was beaten and killed allegedly by an Irish-American teenage gang.

Maharaj, who was born in America of Trinidadian parents, was beaten up with a baseball as he walked through a white neighborhood with a friends and cousin on a cool evening, according to the police. The men charged with the unprovoked attack -- Nuno Martins, 19, Luis Amorim, 22, and Peter DiMarco -- had no criminal record. But they were reportedly drinking, and started hurling racist remarks before they attacked Maharaj.

The attack made headline news in New York City, and focussed on the tension resulting from a significant number of people of color settling down close to the white neighborhoods.

Maharaj, 21, says he and his family hadn't felt racial tension in his neighborhood until a few years ago when thousands of Trinidadians and Guyanese began buying homes and settling down.

He believes his civil rights were violated when he was attacked because he was walking in the "wrong" neighborhood.

"The underlying fact is I am American. I have a right to walk down the street any time of the day or night. I am not going to let ignorance put me down or destroy me," he says. "We're an American family. We raise the American flag. We are just as American as they are."

Since the attack, Maharaj has slowly emerged from the shock of what happened to him. In the first detailed interview since he came out of the hospital, he talked optimistically about his present state and his future. But he would not want any pictures, saying he did not want to draw more attention to himself.

"The first few months were tough, but I don't have much to complain about. I can get used to the headaches," he says.

"I have a lot to be thankful for. I'm thankful I can talk and I can walk. It's too easy to sink into a lull," he continues, adding that after the attack, his mouth had to be wired shut and he walked with a limp.

Maharaj has undergone surgery for injuries to his head, face and lower back. He suffers from nerve damage in his leg and gets constant headaches

"I'm trying to take a positive spin on this. I'm trying to add it up as one more adventure in my life, another trip," he says.

He had taken a year off from Plattsburg State University when the attack occurred. He was using the leave of absence to earn some extra money and was working with computers at a printing company. He recalls his sister Chandra saying, "It was all bad timing."

Maharaj, born in a Hindu family, is an agnostic but he is also spiritual. He says he is determined to overcome the "bad timing.'

But he certainly wants to have his day in the court -- soon!

While the lawyers from both sides have attended many hearings, no trial date has been set. At the last meeting, one of the defense lawyers called for a postponement. The next court date is June 8.

District Attorney Richard Brown has been supportive toward the family and informed them that it might take up to a year for the trial to begin.

Stephen Singer, lawyer for defendant DiMarco, claimed in a December interview that the incident was not bias-related and that only one of the three defendants was actually involved in the beating.

"There is no question that someone beat the hell out of that boy. I don't know if it was in self-defense. But my client was not there when the fight started," Singer said.

The defense lawyers also dispute that baseball bats were used in the attack.

He is being represented by the Asian American Legal Defense Fund free of cost.

Tito Sinha, the AALDF attorney who is representing Maharaj and his family, believes the trial will start in August.

"We hope the case will be resolved as quickly as possible without compromising justice," Sinha said.

"We believe in the version of events that Maharaj and his family have told us and we'd like to see justice done in the case," he added.

Describing himself as a "morbid realist," Maharaj says he has forgiven the defendants and their alleged crime.

"But in ambiguous terms, when I think about it not happening to me, but to someone else, it makes me angry," he says. "The three took out their ignorance in a violent manner and nearly took the life of an innocent man. They nearly killed because of stupid ignorance."

The Maharaj family and the defendants have not communicated since the incident.

"There has been a silent barrier, a wall. We've only been in touch with their (the defendants') lawyers," Maharaj continues.

"Really we have nothing to say to them and they have nothing to say to us," he adds.

One of the biggest triumphs in the case so far, he says, was when the bail for the three defendants was reset from $ 20,000 to $ 100,000 in December.

When the bail was originally set at $ 20,000, Queens Borough President Claire Shulman called it "reprehensible" and spoke out at a peace vigil. "The low bail is disturbing. It does not indicate the seriousness of the alleged crime," she told the crowd

According to Maharaj, Judge Seymour Rotker received letters from students around the nation in support of a higher bail. Also, a peace vigil was held last October in front of the Queens County Criminal Courthouse that attracted civil rights groups from all over.

"We are very grateful that strangers came to the aid of my family. Many contacted our house and many came to the hospital. It wasn't only Indians or people from Trinidad, it was community organizations from all over," he continues.

Racism, he feels, just cannot go away easily.

"People's attitudes are changing. When I walk down the street I know people are looking at me with a general stereotype in mind," he says.

But he hopes that the focus on his case and many other racially motivated attacks could make more people discuss the bias against people of color.

He also believes that residents must start owning up to the fact that these types of racially-charged incidents can occur in Queens.

"A lot of people do not grasp the concept of what happened and say I made it up. This is not something you'd invent. People have to succumb to the fact that, sadly, it happened," he says.

Bhanpartap Maharaj, Rishi's father, once an active civic leader and the only Indian member of the Richmond Hill South Civic Association, has resumed his usual activities.

"Knock on wood, my parents are surprisingly doing extremely well. Time is a healer," Rishi Maharaj says.

"The outpouring of support at the peace vigil is a perfect example of how this vicious act of hate can be turned positive," he continues.

"To see that people who don't have to have a personal stake in something work for a cause or goal, is hopeful to me."

Alysha Sideman is a Queens-based editor and freelance writer.

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