Nigerian students protest against attacks of colleagues in India
A group of African students expressed their bitterness after an angry mob recently attacked and beat up Nigerians schooling in India were accused of cannibalism and murder following the recent death of a local Indian boy identified Manish Khari.
The three Nigerian students were seen severely beaten in the video, which went viral on Monday, March 27 and reported badly injured at a community in Greater Noida, near the capital New Delhi.
The attack was said to be as a result of the death of a teenage local boy, Manish Khari, on Saturday, March 25. The boy reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest due to drug overdose, but residents of the area blamed the African students living in the area for his death.
The boy earlier went missing for a day and the locals accused the African students of cannibalism. They also barged into the houses of the African students to search for Khari’s remains.
After the boy’s death, police charged five Nigerian students with murder, but did not arrest them due to lack of evidence. They were, however, detained briefly for questioning.
Some African students, who were angered by this development, accused the police of bias. The African students staged a protest outside a police station near New Delhi demanding withdrawal of the murder charges in connection with the death of the teenage boy.
The attackers of the Nigerian students according to NDTV have since been identified. “We have arrested six or seven people from the spot. There are more. We will arrest them and put behind bars,” senior police officer Sujata Singh said.
Meanwhile, one of the African students have raised the alarm and complained to Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj through social media that living in a local community in India has become life threatening for African students.
The minister instructed state authorities to take appropriate action to ensure their safety and also promised a thorough investigation into the incident.
