Exchange student from Germany assaulted in UK

British police say they have arrested several teenagers and a man after a 17-year-old exchange student was seriously injured in an attack in the southeastern English city of Canterbury on Thursday evening.

The attack victim is said to have Lebanese roots, and police have not ruled out a racist motive for the attack.

The Labour MP for Canterbury, Rosie Duffield, said she had asked Home Secretary Sajid Javid to expedite visa procedures for the victim's parents, who are not EU citizens despite living in Germany. She called the attack "a horrific and shameful stain" on the university city — also the symbolic global home of the Anglican Church.

Three-day wait for visa

According to the Guardian newspaper, Javid arranged an emergency visa allowing the boy's mother to come to the UK on Sunday. The paper said the parents were originally told by British officials that the visa would take up to five days to process.

The boy is reportedly in a medically induced coma in a hospital in London, where he was airlifted after suffering severe head injuries.

Police in the county of Kent, where Canterbury is located, said six teenagers aged from 15 to 17, including one girl, were arrested along with a 44-year-old man of no fixed address following the attack. They said all were from Canterbury except for one boy from the nearby city of Margate.

Read more: UN: Racism has risen since Brexit vote 

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