Young man speaks out about surviving fraternity hazing on Long Island

Kristin Thorne Image
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Man who blew whistle on Hofstra hazing tells story
Kristin Thorne spoke with the man who revealed extreme fraternity hazing at Hofstra.

HEMPSTEAD, Long Island (WABC) -- A fraternity on Long Island is now suspended and the university is asking police to investigate as disturbing videos were released.

The young man who survived the very real torture is now speaking out.

"It was human torture. It was horrible," said Syed Medhi, a former Hofstra student.

Mehdi says what pledges of the former Sigma Pi fraternity at Hofstra University went through is awful.

New images were released from videos that are too graphic to show.

It shows pledges being forced to vomit on each other.

Mehdi says that wasn't all.

"We were covered in ghost, one of the world's hottest hot sauces for eight hours on end, repeating the same chants, listening to the same songs," Medhi said.

It's believed the hazing happened in an off campus house in 2014 and 2015.

Hofstra says it was never made aware of the allegations.

It was last March when the university received a letter from the national chapter of Sigma Pi saying it was revoking the students' charter, but would provide no other details.

Mehdi says he was the one who contacted the fraternity's national office.

"I don't want to disclose anyone's names. I don't want to get anyone in trouble. I just want people to know what happened to me and that's why I went public about it," Mehdi said.

Mehdi added that he didn't notify Nassau Police Department.