my brother got robbed and my parents worried as they read the news in kathmandu post http://www.ekantipur.com/kolne... Reality check Alexis Kharel Rajan Tamang of Kavrepalanchok district is a student at Los Angeles City College. In February this year he was held at gunpoint on his way home to his small apartment. Two assailants, one from the front and the other from behind, approached him. They used a gun and intimidation tactics to scare the 20-year-old student into handing over his school bag and his wallet. Rajan had recently received a small amount of cash for lending a little help to a neighborhood Bengali grocery shop, and had also just purchased some very expensive textbooks. The thieves insisted that he give them all of his belongings or face fatal consequences. When they made off with his bag, Rajan begged to have the textbooks returned to him, which had cost him a hefty $250 dollars, but his pleas were disregarded.  The two men ran off, and against Rajan's better judgment, he proceeded to chase after the men.  After he regained his senses, he located a phone to call the 911 number, which is used all across America to notify local police.  The police arrived in about 10 minutes to take his report, but neither assailants nor items were ever retrieved. The route that he had unknowingly embarked upon to walk home from school is notorious for such assaults. It is a relatively dark street, which has two freeway overpasses that create dark hideaways for shady drug deals and gang related crimes.  Rajan has since avoided the area, and now asks for an escort home when he is invited to help out at the Bengali shop. A similar incident happened to a graduate student who transferred to California State University Los Angeles last year. Only, he did not file a police report and the place where he was robbed is a generally safe area. Like many international students from various countries here, he was afraid to file a police report because of his visa status.  As his family could not support him through his MA, he had to find cash work to support his studies. The assailant in this case also used a revolver to intimidate him into giving over cash from his employer's register, and has targeted the student more than once. The student has even commented that the thief greeted him once in a public as if they were good friends.  He believes he is being targeted and exploited by this individual because it is possible that this thug exploits the vulnerability of persons in such circumstances. Just because the U.S. has usually reliable protective government agencies and well-lighted streets does not mean that the United States is free from such crimes. On the contrary, the United States has many domestic problems which include drug culture, gang wars, transient criminals, and the sex trade.  Students who come here should realise that they are coming to a foreign country, which requires them to have some forethought about resources that will protect them from these dangers and exploitations, while they are trying to achieve their pursuits. America can be a wonderful experience if you adhere to some precautions that will make your transition, or journey, a safer one. Posted on: 2009-05-13 19:33:47 (Server Time)