Tanzanian student attack: Sushma Swaraj says ‘deeply pained’ - Today Hot News

Karnataka Home Minister Contradicts Tanzanian Student, Says She Wasn't Stripped

The Tanzanian student alleged that she was stripped and forced to walk naked in public by a mob that went on a rampage and set fire to her car after a road accident.

A 21-YEAR-OLD Tanzanian student has lodged a police complaint accusing a mob of stripping her and forcing her to walk “without her top” on the street in Bengaluru on the night of January 31.

Here are 10 developments in the story:

1. Five people have been arrested for the attack on the 21-year-old Tanzanian college student, described as "shameful" by Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj.
2. "This is a serious case. We will not take it casually. There are more than 12,000 foreign students here and it is our duty to protect them," said State Home Minister G Parmeshwar.
3. The attack took place when the woman and three other Tanzanian students were travelling in their Wagon R car near a spot where a Sudanese driver had run over a woman, killing her on the spot. "If the accident hadn't happened, this could have been avoided," Mr Parmeshwar said.
4. An angry crowd that had gathered after the accident turned on the Tanzanian students, who were dragged out of the car and beaten.
5. The crowd beat up the woman and tore at her clothes. She has alleged that she was stripped and paraded.
6. "We went into a bus but the driver did not want to move and the people in the bus started to beat us and pushed us outside...I fell on the steps of the bus. The Indians pulled me and continued to beat us," the woman has said in her statement to the police.
7. Police have come under fire for allegedly failing to stop the attack after the student said she pleaded with an officer for help, telling them that she was Tanzanian and knew nothing of the accident.
8. "He told us 'you all look alike and should get the black man who ran over a woman in the area'," the woman alleged in her complaint
9. Tanzania has written to India urging strict action. Tanzanian High Commissioner John Kizagi has said that the woman and her friends were attacked "simply because they were black". He said: "This should not happen in the 21st century. It's not a once in a while event, they come several times in a year."
10. The state's ruling Congress has been asked by party Vice President Rahul Gandhi to explain and "send report immediately" on the incident, his office tweeted.

The alleged incident took place following a road accident earlier in the day, when a car driven by a Sudanese medical student hit a local resident, 35-year-old Sabeen Taj, who died in the accident, while her husband Sanuallah sustained injuries.

According to the woman’s complaint, a mob gathered that night and set on fire the Sudanese student’s car, as well as a car in which the Tanzanian student was travelling. While the Tanzanian student had not made allegations of being stripped by the mob in the complaint filed on Sunday, she did so on Wednesday, when police summoned her following media reports of the alleged incident. She alleged in her statement that “her top was removed” by the mob, police said.

Reacting to the “shameful” incident, External Affairs Minister Sushma said that she has asked Karnataka Chief Minister S Siddaramaiah to take “stringent” action against the guilty.

Swaraj said that Siddaramaiah had informed her that a criminal case has been registered and four accused arrested. Local police said they had arrested the Sudanese student, 20-year-old Mohammed Ahad, in connection with the accident and six others for torching the two cars of the African students.
It is learnt that the High Commission of Tanzania has sent a Note Verbale to the Ministry of External Affairs about the reported attack, requesting it to take necessary legal action against the guilty.

Sources said the Joint Secretary in MEA’s East and Southern Africa Division, Tanmaya Lal, spoke to the High Commissioner of Tanzania, John Tigazi, and expressed regret over the “unfortunate” incident.

Later, Swaraj tweeted, “We are deeply pained over the shameful incident with a Tanzanian girl in Bengaluru…I have asked the Chief Minister to ensure safety and security of all foreign students and stringent punishment for the guilty.”

When contacted, Bengaluru’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (north division) T R Suresh said, “We were shocked by media reports on Wednesday and we summoned the woman to know what exactly happened. She appeared before the Soladevanahalli police and gave a new statement, saying she was stripped by a mob. We have added suitable sections of the IPC to the FIR that was registered earlier based on the complaint that her car was set on fire. We need to investigate further.”

The incident took place at Ganapathinagar in north Bengaluru, where a number of African students live and study at local colleges.

Following the incident, the Tanzanian woman, a student of Acharya College in Soladevanahalli, informed an association of African students that she was stripped and forced to walk half-naked in public by the mob. She also alleged that a police constable present at the scene remained a mute spectator.

Bosco Kaweesi, a legal adviser to the All African Students Union (AASU), said the Tanzanian woman was not linked in any way to the road accident involving the Sudanese student.

“The victim and her friends were travelling in their car 30 minutes after the accident and the mob targeted them randomly. She was stripped and made to run to hide. She attempted to board a bus, but passengers pushed her away. Later, she tried to hire an autorickshaw but the driver refused,” he said.
Kaweesi said he called and informed the police inspector at Soladevanahalli police station about the incident on Sunday night, but was asked to contact the control room instead.

A group of students who went to complain at the police station about the alleged stripping was asked by officers to produce the student involved in the fatal accident, even though the Sudanese national was already in their custody, Kaweesi alleged.

A few months ago, in Kothanur region of north Bengaluru, locals ganged up to beat four students from the Ivory Coast following complaints about frequent late night parties. The police had arrested nine people in the case.

Keywords : Tanzanian woman, Tanzanian girl, Tanzanian studentTanzania, Bengaluru, Tanzanian woman attacked, Bengaluru race attack, African student attacked, student stripped.