MEA condemns attack on Tanzanian girl; calls it isolated incident, vows strict action

New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday condemned the attack on a Tanzanian girl in Bengaluru and said that all steps will be taken to ensure safety of African students in the country.

The ministry said that the incident should be seen as an “isolated” one and “stringent punishment will be given to the perpetrators”.

“We will take all steps to ensure the safety and security of African students in India,” MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, adding “We have assured our African friends that necessary legal action will be taken.”

Condemning the incident, the MEA spokesperson said that his ministry “will extend full co-operation in the investigation.”

Meanwhile, a Central team along with the High Commissioner of Tanzania is expected to visit Bengaluru on Friday to get a first-hand information on the incident.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said that his ministry has not been briefed officially yet and has not seen details of the report.

“We should be very sensitive towards any kind of racial discrimination because we were victims of it,” Rijiju said.

The Bengaluru Police have arrested five people suspected of assaulting the Tanzanian woman.

The arrests were made on the basis of witnesses accounts and video footage from closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) in the area.

In a case of mistaken identity, an angry mob on Sunday night assaulted Lina Martin, 21, suspecting her to be a friend of a Sudanese student whose car ran over a woman pedestrian.

Mohammad Ahad Ismail, 20, in a case of drunken driving fatally ran his car over Shabana Taz, 35, and injured her husband K. Sanaullah.

Ismail, an MBA student, was arrested for drunken driving and causing Shabana's death. The mob attacked him before police came and rescued him on Sunday night.

Angry at Shabana`s death in the mishap caused by a Sudanese, another violent mob mistakenly targetted Lina and burnt her WagonR car in which she was with three male friends and passing through the area, assuming her to be Ismail's friend.

In her statement, Lina denied being stripped or paraded naked but said she was assaulted and molested by the mob when her T-shirt got torn off in the melee.