India police arrested five people Thursday over an
enraged mob’s attack on a Tanzanian student who was beaten, her shirt
ripped off and car set ablaze in the city of Bangalore.
India Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj branded the attack
“shameful” and demanded swift justice for those responsible, as she
moved to defuse any diplomatic tensions over the incident.
“We are deeply pained over the shameful incident with a
Tanzanian girl in Bengaluru,” Sushma tweeted late Wednesday, referring
to the southern tech hub which is also home to a large foreign student
population.
“I have asked the (state’s) chief minister to ensure
safety and security of all foreign students and stringent punishment for
the guilty.”
The mob attacked the 21-year-old and her male friends on
Sunday night in apparent revenge for a road accident in which a Sudanese
driver ran over a local woman who died.
The student said in a complaint lodged with police on
Wednesday that the rioting mob attacked her car as they drove near the
scene of the accident less than an hour later.
“Our car was set ablaze. They tugged at my t-shirt and it
tore, leaving me without anything. They continued to thrash us and we
ran for our lives,” she was quoted by the Times of India in her
complaint saying.
“My friends and I hopped onto a bus. The driver didn’t
move and the other passengers threw us out. A passerby who also offered
me his T-shirt was also thrashed.”
Bangalore police commissioner N S Megharikh said five
people have been arrested over the attack which he said was a “road rage
incident” and not racially motivated.
“We have arrested the five accused this morning after interrogating them on Wednesday night,” Megharikh told AFP.
But Tanzanian High Commissioner John W. H. Kijazi said
India and African nations needed to work together to halt such incidents
which “are occurring time and again”.
“It’s not a once in a while event, they come several times in a year,” he told the NDTV network on Thursday.
Police have come under fire for allegedly failing to stop
the attack after the student said she pleaded with an officer for help,
stressing that she was Tanzanian and knew nothing of the accident.
“He told us ‘you all look alike and should get the black man who ran over a woman in the area’,” she alleged in her complaint.
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