Death of Lukas Banyai after a pre-integration evening in Compiègne: his parents testify

Upon discovering the videos of the pre-integration evening organized outside the Compiègne University of Technology, Lukas Banyai's parents were devastated. Two teams of students challenge each other against a backdrop of alcohol consumption. Their son Lukas has to drink a can of beer in one gulp.

But he can't do it. Other students then shout: “Punishment, punishment!” In another video, Lukas has to swallow an impossible to identify liquid. “We saw that he had to eat disgusting things,” says Lazlo, Lukas’s father. “Eating chili, drinking alcohol… We want to know what happened to him, so that his death at least serves a purpose. Let us stop these hazing evenings! Everyone knows that it happens but we turn a blind eye. Until there is a tragedy.”

"For me, it's an evening of hazing, assures Lukas' mother, Cinzia, to franceinfo. My son had just turned 18, he was a year early, he joined a school which is prestigious, I never would have imagined that there would be such practices".

The school management has set up a psychological unit to deal with the distress of students and staff. She claims not to have been aware of this evening. Lukas returned home conscious before calling Samu in the middle of the night and being transported to Compiègne hospital where he died a few hours later. The Compiègne public prosecutor's office specifies that an investigation has been opened. Toxicological analyzes are underway to determine the causes of his death. The first findings made it possible to exclude any intervention by a third party.

"We heard Lukas' parents say that they were wearing it publicly so that it wouldn't happen again, explains their lawyer, Valérie Bloch, who is part of the national committee against hazing. All the parents say that every time. All the young people who are victims of tragedy during hazing say that. And it continues to happen outside establishments, so everyone washes their hands of it," she explains.

“If all institutions sanctioned, and in an extremely firm manner, the organization of such events, they would not happen again.”

Lukas' parents also wonder about how he was treated in the emergency room. The Compiègne hospital told franceinfo that it was “unable to communicate on individual care”. “We are obviously available to the family, the justice system and the competent police department to transmit any information that could prove useful in clarifying the circumstances of this tragedy,” continues the hospital.

The investigation was entrusted to the local judicial police service at the Compiègne police station, the prosecution said. Cinzia and Lazlo Banyai filed a complaint against X for hazing, manslaughter and failure to assist a person in danger. The Compiègne prosecutor explains that hearings have already taken place.