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The family of a young man killed in 2005 at a George Washington University party has filed a wrongful death suit against the University and the organization which sponsored the event, the GW Hatchet reported this week.
According to the Hatchet, the young man, Ranjit Singh, 20, was stabbed to death as he left the South Asian Society’s annual Bhangra Blowout party, held at the Old Post Office Pavilion on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The Singh family attorney, Geoffrey Allen, said in an interview with the Voice that as Singh was walking down the steps from the Pavilion to street level, he was accosted by a young man with whom he had exchanged words at the party. The confrontation soon spilled onto the street, where Singh was stabbed in the chest multiple times.
“He waited for [Singh] to come out and settle a score,” said Allen, in reference to the young man who committed the crime.
Allen contends that, had the party organizers hired more security guards and properly placed them around the Pavilion, the murder never would have happened.
“It is our position that had security guards been present [the murderer] would have been deterred,” said Allen.
Falkland Security, the firm that was hired for the evening’s event, is also named in the suit. Allen seeks to expand the suit to include Hill Partners Inc., the property manager, Sectek Inc., a security firm which also had guards at the event, and the U.S. government, which owns the building.
University officials, Karen Khan, the lawyer representing GW in the suit, and members of the South Asian Society could not be reached for comment.
According to the Hatchet, the family is seeking survival action compensation, which is based on the premise that the family is entitled to whatever income the victim would have earned had he survived. The family also seeks compensation for the pain their son felt while being stabbed, as well as for the value of any services he would have rendered for his family.
“It seems like a very simple case to me,” Allen said. “When you have a lot of drinking and kids there is going to be some jostling. To not have security guards there after the event is quite unbelievable.”
