The shocking tale of Indian ‘illegal’ who attacked woman and bit her 3-year-old daughter in US

A violent 24-year-old Indian man has been arrested after he brutally assaulted a mother and her three-year-old daughter in a park in San Antonio, Texas, US. Identified as Atharva Vyas, he was reportedly high on a powerful drug when the incident occurred.

Vyas was arrested earlier for committing violent assault; however, the Biden administration failed to deport him, the New York Post (NYP) reported, citing authorities.

Now, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued a detainer against the man, meaning that once his legal proceedings are over, he will be transferred to ICE custody and sent back to India. His student visa was also revoked in 2025 because of his prior criminal record, and he was residing in the US illegally.

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"ICE lodged a detainer with local law enforcement asking them to turn Vyas over to ICE instead of releasing him into the community after he’s faced justice for his alleged crimes," the law enforcement agency wrote on X.

We take a look.

How an Indian man carried out the violent assault

The incident occurred on April 18 at around 2 pm in a San Antonio park. The family — Perez, her little daughter Amelia, her father Xavier Estrada, 27, and her grandfather Richard Ariaza — was on their way home from LaCoste to Espada Park on that quiet afternoon for fishing.

In the afternoon, Perez took her daughter, Amelia, to the restroom. The moment they came outside, a man appeared in front of them, charging toward them. That man was Vyas.

He moved toward the mother and daughter, grabbed Perez's hair and hit her in the jaw. During the incident, the 27-year-old mother reportedly removed the child to ensure she remained unharmed; however, the violent man leapt on her child. 

Officials noted that Vyas had allegedly consumed “wax,” a highly concentrated form of cannabis, where one dose is equivalent to smoking 15-20 joints.

The mother, Perez, fought continuously in a desperate attempt to save her 3-year-old daughter. However, Vyas ripped out the kid's two front teeth.

The father, Estrada, remained out of the scene and rushed to the spot after hearing the commotion. Eyewitnesses came forward and dragged the attacker away from Amelia. And then someone called 911.

Till the time cops reached the site, the attacker was mercilessly beaten by the crowd, eventually leading him to collapse.

What the mother said after the attack

“That brute was ravaging my baby! “She’s terrified to sleep. She’s lashing out, angry. She doesn’t understand evil like this f–king man. She’ll never be the same again," Perez told Post.

In the emergency room, the adults were all going crazy while Amelia was suffering shock. She sat eerily calm, like a statue, while the nurses and doctors worked on her poor face,” Perez added as quoted by the media outlet.

“She didn’t make a peep, even though she was in a great deal of pain. It hadn’t hit her yet, what happened.”

Perez continued, "We need people to send us prayers. We are focusing on healing and recovery. Even though you try to protect your children, this is a dangerous world with dangerous people."

Was Vyas arrested before for violent assault?

This was not Vyas' first assault. The court records show that Vyas was jailed in the Bexar County Detention Centre. He was charged with intentionally injuring a child, assault causing bodily harm, and illegal entry into the country from a foreign nation.

According to reports, the Department of Homeland Security stated that he first arrived in the US from India in August 2023 on a student visa. After three months, Vyas was arrested on the University of Texas campus for felony assault.

The University of Texas then contacted the law enforcement agency. However, the Biden Administration then determined this crime was not "egregious” enough to warrant visa revocation. No enforcement action was taken against Vyas.

In 2025, however, the Trump administration revoked Vyas' F-1 visa due to his past arrest for assault.

Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis blasted the failed policies of the Biden administration that permitted illegal migrant to stay in the US.

Bis said as quoted by NYP, "This barbaric assault against this woman and her 3-year-old child in a park was completely preventable. “The Biden administration NEVER should have released this animal following his arrest for assault.”

With inputs from agencies