Muscat: A catholic church organised a mass in Oman capital Muscat to pay tribute to the Indian-origin trainee teacher Tarun Asthana, who died of his injuries Monday in New Zealand. The Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Ruwi on Monday paid tribute to Tarun Asthana, a former student of the Indian School Muscat, who died of his head injuries after being assaulted by a sailor in Auckland, New Zealand, November 2, the Times of Oman reported Tuesday. Asthana, 25, was on life support in Auckland City Hospital for two days. His friends and well wishers in Oman and Dubai were shocked to hear the sad news.

Asthana studied in the Indian School Muscat till Class 10 and then migrated to New Zealand. "It is shocking and a big loss for all his friends," Lirenne Gomes, a schoolmate of Asthana, was quoted as saying. "Tarun visited Oman and Dubai in 2011 to meet his friends and relatives," she added. Gomes said she came to know about Asthana's death after some of her friends pasted news-link of his death on Facebook page. The victim's mother Yvette Asthana was a popular radio jockey on one of the FM radio stations of Muscat. Asthana suffered a serious head injury when he fell onto the pavement after being punched in the face by a sailor outside a McDonald's outlet in downtown Queen Street November 2.