Attack on Nigerian student not racial crime, have arrested accused, says Hyderabad Police; MEA seeks report

The Nigerian student was allegedly thrashed by a Hyderabad resident following an argument over parking space on Wednesday.

Attack on Nigerian student not racial crime, have arrested accused, says Hyderabad Police;  MEA seeks report
Pic Courtesy: ANI

Hyderabad: A day after the murder of 23-year-old Congolese national MK Olivier in the national capital, a 23-year-old Nigerian student has now been hit by an iron rod in Hyderabad, said reports on Friday.

The Nigerian student was allegedly thrashed by a Hyderabad resident following an argument over parking space on Wednesday, according to reports.

A case has been registered under Section 324 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Hyderabad Police have arrested the accused.

We have arrested the accused, its a case of car parking misunderstanding, not a racial crime: Anjani Kumar of Hyderabad Police said.

 

 

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from Telangana government over the incident.

The attack comes close on heels of the murder of 23-year-old Congolese national MK Olivier in New Delhi which also saw many African envoys threatening to boycott the Africa Day celebrations in New Delhi.

Union Minister VK Singh sought to cool down the tempers and said that the Centre is firmly committed that such incidents "cannot be forgotten". "The government of India condemns a heinous crime like this. It was a crime, it is not premeditated, not racial," he said.

 

 

When asked about sensitising programmes demanded by African envoys, Singh said that move has been initiated by the Indian government.

"We have told the envoys that we will do sensitisation. Yesterday the External Affairs Minister (Sushma Swaraj) tweeted. We will do it as per convenience of our African Heads of Missions, with then taking the administration with us, we will go around talking to people. We will assure them that there safety is our concern," he said.

The Indian community staying in Africa, particularly in Congo, have been told to be careful. Several protesters had taken to the streets in Congo's capital Kinshasa demanding appropriate action from the Indian government into the murder case of Olivier.

Olivier was a French teacher at a private institute in Delhi. He was allegedly beaten to death by the three men while he was returning from a friend's house in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area on the night of May 20.

While Olivier's friend and other African nationals in the area who rushed to his rescue alleged that the attack on Oliver took place on racial lines, senior police officials denied the allegations and claimed that this was not an incident of hate crime.

The fight between Oliver and the group broke out over hiring an auto-rickshaw, police claimed.

With Agency inputs

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