18-year-old student dies after ‘hazing party’ in France

An 18-year-old French student has died after a student party. His family has filed a complaint alleging hazing, which is punishable in France by six months in prison.

The student, Lukas Banyai, was due to start his second year at the University of Technology of Compiègne, the French magazine Paris Match reports. A kind of hazing party was organised ahead of the new academic year.

At the party, two student teams competed against each other in various challenges. Alcohol was also consumed. A video reportedly shows Banyai having to down a can of beer in one go. He also had to drink an unknown black liquid.

Emergency care

When the party ended at around 10pm, friends took the student home, where he went to bed. But he soon began to feel unwell. In the middle of the night, he called the medical emergency service and was taken to the emergency room. He died there a few hours later.

His family has filed a complaint, including one alleging hazing. “We don’t know what our son died of”, Banyai’s mother told the French newspaper Le Parisien. “He played volleyball at a high level. He had no known allergies or health problems. I want to know what happened.”

Banned

The public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation. Bizutage, or hazing, has been banned in France since 1998. It is illegal to pressure someone into humiliating acts or to make them drink excessive amounts of alcohol.

Anyone found guilty can be fined 7,500 euros and sentenced to six months in prison. A university or association can be fined up to 37,500 euros.

Nevertheless, hazing still takes place in French student circles. Around one in ten students undergo some form of hazing. Earlier this year, three organisers of a French university’s student welcome party went on trial after a student died in 2021. The student had consumed a large amount of alcohol at a hazing party and was hit by a lorry on the way home.