Karnataka HM on Stripping Incident: Case of Mistaken Identity
Karnataka Home Minister, speaking about the alleged stripping incident, called it a case of mistaken identity.
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The Tanzanian girl who was allegedly assaulted on the night of 31 January was not stripped or paraded naked, says the Karnataka Home Minister G Parmeshwara while reading out the Tanzanian girl’s statement.
Also in the communique, he says that the attack was ‘just’ a response to an accident and not a planned racist attack.
In his statement, Parmeshwara told the media, that the five accused were being interrogated by the police.
Initial reports on the shocking case had said that a 21-year-old girl student of Tanzanian origin was assaulted and partially stripped by a mob in Bangalore after a Sudanese student’s car ran over and killed a local woman in Hesaraghatta area of Bangalore..
Giving the details of the incident, the Karnataka Home Minister added that earlier on that day, Mohd. Ismail, a Sudanese national, driving under influence of alcohol, hit a local resident K Sanaullah and his 35-year-old wife Sabeen Taj. Sanaullah’s wife died on the spot and he was injured. Mohammad Ismail, the person driving the car was injured badly too and was sent to the hospital, just like Sanaullah.
Later that day, three people from the immediate vicinity set another Tanzanian national student’s car on fire when she was passing that area with three others. The mob stopped this car that was not involved in the accident and after forcing its occupants to step out, they also set the car on fire. The mob stood in front of the car, preventing it from moving forward.
He said that the police had registered the case right after the incident. But for two days the case was registered only about the accident. He added that after two days, when the student reported her assault to police, she did not tell them she was stripped or paraded in public. He said the names of those who were arrested were:
- Lokesh Bangari
- Venkatesh
- Saleem Pasha
- Bhanu Prakash
- Rahmatullah
He said that five of the accused have been arrested, these being the initial arrests, pending enquiry about the identity of the rest of the members involved in the alleged incident.
Giving his own comments about the incident, he blamed the Sudanese man for the unfortunate turn of events.
Parameshwara said the case was being taken seriously. “There are 12,000 foreign students in Bangalore. Their protection and their pursuit of education is our duty,” Parameshwara said. He also promised to crack down on the errant ones.
DGP and Commissioner visited the accident spot on Wednesday.
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