Posted Wednesday, September 19, 2012 --- 4:23 p.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The son of a massacre victim at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin is asking the federal government to begin collecting statistics on hate crimes against Sikhs.

The 18-year-old Harpreet Sing Saini urged senators at a hearing Wednesday to give his late mother the dignity of being a statistic.

Saini's mother, Paramjit Kaur Saini, was among six people killed and four wounded by a gunman on Aug. 5 before a service was to begin.

The shooter, Wade Michael Page, was shot during a firefight with police and died after he shot himself in the head.

A Justice Department official says the agency will bring together an array of religious groups in October andl make recommendations to the FBI afterward on collecting the information.

More than 400 people attended the hearing.

Copyright 2012: Associated Press