The National Human Rights Commission on Friday issued a notice to the Karnataka government and the director general of police, directing them to submit a report on the mob attack on a 21-year-old Tanzanian student in Bengaluru. "If the contents of [media] reports are true, it would amount to a serious violation of human rights, including racism," it said.
Tanzanian Ambassador to India John WH Kijazi said on Friday that concrete measures had already been taken to look into the mob attack. In a meeting attended by a delegation of the Tanzanian High Commission, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara and senior police officials, he said the government assured him that proper measures will be implemented to ensure the safety of African students.
The incident stoked controversy, with the state government denying it was an act of racism, and the local police covering their tracks after not filing an FIR on the incident immediately. The woman was stripped, beaten and paraded before a mob on Sunday, after locals in Bengaluru assumed she was linked to another incident, where a Sudanese man’s car crashed into a woman and killed her. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had earlier condemned the attack, and chaired a meeting on the issue on Thursday.
Four people were arrested in connection with the incident on Friday. Earlier, five others were arrested, including a local Bharatiya Janata Party panchayat leader.
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