The parents of an 18-year-old engineering student who died after participating in a pre-integration party at a prestigious French university have filed a lawsuit against X (formerly Twitter), alleging hazing, involuntary homicide, and failure to assist a person in danger.
A Promising Student’s Tragic Death
Lukas Banyai, a first-year student at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne (UTC), died on August 23 after attending an off-campus pre-integration event. Video footage from the evening shows two teams of students competing in challenges involving heavy alcohol consumption.
In one video, Lukas is seen attempting to drink an entire can of beer in one go. When he fails, other students reportedly shout “Punishment, punishment!” Another clip shows him being forced to swallow an unidentified liquid.
“We saw that he had to eat disgusting things,” said Lazlo, Lukas’s father. “Eating chili peppers, drinking alcohol… We want to know what happened to him, so that at least his death serves a purpose. That these hazing parties stop! Everyone knows it happens, but everyone closes their eyes. Until there’s a tragedy.”
Mother Speaks Out: ‘Never Imagined Such Practices’
“For me, this was a hazing party,” Cinzia, Lukas’s mother, told reporters. “My son had just turned 18. He was a year ahead. He was joining a prestigious school. Never would I have imagined there were such practices.”
Lukas returned home conscious after the event but called emergency services in the middle of the night. He was transported to Compiègne hospital, where he died a few hours later.
Investigation Underway
The Compiègne prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation, with toxicological analyses currently underway to determine the cause of death. Initial findings have ruled out third-party intervention.
The university has established a psychological support unit for students and staff and claims it was unaware of the off-campus event. The investigation has been assigned to the local judicial police service.
Legal Action Against X
Cinzia and Lazlo Banyai have filed a complaint against X for hazing, involuntary homicide, and failure to assist a person in danger. The prosecutor confirmed that hearings have already taken place.
“We heard Lukas’s parents say they were making this public so it wouldn’t happen again,” said their lawyer, Valérie Bloch, who sits on the National Committee Against Hazing. “Every parent says this every time. Every young person who is a victim of a tragedy during hazing says this. And it continues to happen outside institutions, so everyone washes their hands of it.”
“If all institutions sanctioned the organization of such events extremely firmly, they would not happen again,” Bloch added.
Concerns Over Emergency Care
Lukas’s parents have also raised questions about how he was treated in the emergency room. The Compiègne hospital told reporters it was “not in a position to communicate on an individual case” but added it remains “at the disposal of the family, the justice system, and the competent police service to transmit any information that could prove useful in clarifying the circumstances of this tragedy.”
Student Testimony Reveals Disturbing Patterns
A 20-year-old UTC student and member of the Solidaires Étudiants union, speaking anonymously, described pre-integration parties as events “known for their shocking nature.”
“People are encouraged to drink alcohol, there’s spoiled food, animal food,” she said. “In 2024, there was even a person who had vomited and had to drink their own vomit.”
She said these incidents were reported to a UTC student life official, who claimed to have already been aware and to have taken necessary measures. “But no apparent change has been observed,” she lamented.
‘There Is No Consent in Hazing’
The president of the National Committee Against Hazing emphasized that hazing is a criminal offense under French law, prohibited since 1998.
“When we intervene in institutions, when we do prevention, we say clearly: ‘Don’t accept just anything, and if you see unacceptable things happening, don’t accept them,'” she said. “In matters of hazing, there is no consent. It’s a crime. You cannot be asked to agree to a crime—it’s not possible.”
She noted that some organizations have students sign a form of “agreement to be hazed,” which she said has no legal validity.
The case has renewed calls for stricter enforcement against hazing rituals at French universities and grandes écoles, where such practices have persisted despite legal prohibitions.
