Bengaluru: Four more persons have been arrested and two police officials suspended in connection with the alleged assault and stripping of a Tanzanian student that has triggered a nationwide outrage. With this, nine persons have been arrested so far since the incident happened on Sunday night.
Read: Bengaluru: Mob strips Tanzanian girl, torches her car as police watch
Deccan Chronicle had exclusively reported on Wednesday that the 21-year-old Tanzanian girl, who is a second year BBA student of Acharya College, had absolutely nothing to do with the car that ran over and killed a 35-year-old Hesaraghatta resident on Sunday night. Yet, while the local police stood by and watched, she was repeatedly beaten and then stripped of all her clothes and made to parade around naked.
Read: Bengaluru mob violence: 4 arrested, Sushma asks CM to take strict action
Inspector Pravin Babu and Constable Manjunath have been suspended, Bengaluru Police Commissioner N S Megharikh said.
“Babu has been suspended for dereliction of duty and Manjunath for not taking action even though he was present at the spot,” he added. The four accused were arrested last night, Megharkh said and added that they have been booked for assault, unlawful assembly, arson, rioting and outraging a woman’s modesty.
Read: She asked cops for help, they threw her to the mob: Tanzanian girl’s friend
Megharikh said police have been interrogating the suspects and there are chances of arresting some more people. Asked whether one of the arrested is a member of BJP, Megharikh said, “He is a panchayat member.” A team from Delhi comprising the Tanzanian High Commissioner John W H Kijazi and External Affairs Ministry officials will meet the students here and get the assessment of the state government on the incident.
Read: Bengaluru cops ‘rescued’ drivers, left stripped Tanzanian girl to mob’s mercy
The Tanzanian woman was reportedly dragged out of a car by few people when she was passing the accident spot with three friends. The mob mistook them to have caused the fatal accident though a Sudanese was involved in it, police said. Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara has denied that the Tanzanian woman was stripped and paraded naked, claiming that it was not a racial attack.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi on Friday said strict action will be taken. "I condemn 100 per cent this type of action," the Congress Vice President told reporters, adding that he spoke to the party General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka to look into the matter and speak to the Chief Minister.
Earlier, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara denied that the Tanzanian woman was stripped and paraded naked, claiming that it was not a racial attack.
