Killing of Arunachal student
New Delhi: Following the gruesome incident in the national capital leading to the death of a student from Arunachal Pradesh, the son of a legislator, various organisations from the Northeast have decided to go on a series of protest starting Saturday.
The protest will start with a gherao of the sweet shop in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar area, whose employees assaulted the helpless boy over a trivial issue that concerned the victim’s hair colour. The Northeast community has also decided to hold a protest march in front of the sweet shop on the same day. Union Minister for Minority Affairs Ninong Ering, who also hails from Arunachal Pradesh, has expressed shock over the incident. He has demanded a thorough probe into the incident and demanded punishment to the perpetrators.
The people from the region and those who are close to the victim are alleging that the police had failed to protect him. They feel that they should not have brought him back to the same place.
In the incident, a boy from Arunachal Pradesh, Nido Taniam, was allegedly beaten to death in the posh Lajpat Nagar area in Southeast Delhi on Wednesday and he succumbed to his injuries on Thursday at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
According to the friends and relatives there was some altercation with a shopkeeper which escalated. The victim’s family has alleged that he was beaten to death.
Some say the shopkeepers and a few others made some obscene remarks on his blonde hair, leading to a fight. The police picked up the boy and later dropped him back in the same locality. After that the shopkeeper and his friends allegedly beat him up again.
Arunachal Pradesh Resident Commissioner Avinash Kumar said, “The police must act and arrest those behind this. It’s a heinous crime. The Northeast students are very agitated. We will ensure that the culprits are booked under the law. We will send the body to his native place on Saturday morning.” According to reports, Taniam died due to internal injuries. After the scuffle he came back to his house and he never woke up after that. DD Lapang, Chairman of the North East Congress Coordination Committee (NECCC), in a statement on Friday, strongly condemned the dastardly attack on Nido Taniam.
The NECCC chief urged the authorities to take immediate action to arrest the accused and bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice. “Such barbaric incidents have happened once too often in the capital city and should be condemned by all right thinking people,” the NECCC said.
Lapang also expressed his condolences to the members of the bereaved family.
Meanwhile, the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) has called upon the Delhi Police to invoke the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, against the murderers of Nido Taniam. The ACHR further called for trial of all the accused in a fast track court. “There have been increasing racial attacks on the people from the North East India in Delhi. In addition to the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Delhi Police must invoke the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the murderers as well as the Delhi Police personnel who have failed to protect Taniam, a Scheduled Tribe, from being beaten to death,” stated Suhas Chakma, Director of ACHR.