Arunachal student death: Delhi Police files murder case, magisterial probe ordered

Zee Media Bureau New Delhi: An Arunachal Pradesh MLA`s son died here after he was allegedly beaten up by some shopkeepers following an altercation sparked by their taunts on his hairstyle, in yet another incident of targeting of people from the north-east. Nido Tanian, son of Congress MLA and Parliamentary Secretary in Health and Family Welfare Department, Nido Pavitra, died yesterday, police said. Delhi government has recommended a magisterial inquiry into the incident.

Two shopkeepers were arrested on Friday evening in the case as police faced flak for alleged inaction. His friends said that Nido, a BA first year student at a private university, had gone to Lajpat Nagar with his friends on Wednesday and was looking for an address when he had an altercation with some youths at a shop after they made fun of his hairstyle, following which they allegedly thrashed him. Some locals intervened and the quarrel was stopped after which Tanian came back home. However, his condition suddenly deteriorated yesterday after which he died under suspicious circumstances, his relatives claimed. A youth claiming to be his cousin told a TV channel, "This is surely about racism. Everybody in Delhi discriminates against us based on our looks. We are living in India, but we don`t know whether we are actually living in India or not.. every time we are discriminated against. Police said they were waiting for the viscera report while two shopkeepers identified as Farhan and Akram have been arrested. The initial post-mortem has not revealed "much injury or aberration". His viscera samples have been preserved to zero in on the cause of death, police said. "On Wednesday, they had a fight. However they reached a compromise soon after that. There was not much injury. Then on Thursday he was brought dead to AIIMS following which we were informed. Post-Mortem was conducted today. "It didn`t show much injury or aberrations. Internally, there were some changes in viscera, and for this the viscera has been preserved and its chemical report is being expedited. Meanwhile, we have registered a case under Section 302. Further investigations are on," Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East) P Karunakaran told PTI. Lok Sabha member from Arunachal Pradesh Takam Sanjoy demanded immediate arrest and trial of culprits involved in the murder. "Even after 48-hours of the incident the police failed to arrest the culprits involved in the crime, which exposed the discriminatory attitude of the people from mainland India towards the people of North East," Sanjoy said. “This is not a new incident.... Several such incidents have been reported earlier where students of NE are victimised and we have taken adequate steps to sensitize the people ... Even I raised the issue several times in the parliaments," Sanjoy said while condemning the incident. He said, he was shocked to learn that the Lajpat Nagar police delayed in registering the FIR and even did not arrest the culprits. The All Arunachal Pradesh Students` Union (AAPSU) and All Nyishi Students Union (ANSU) along with several other organisations of the state condemned the incident and demanded the Delhi government to arrest the culprits immediately and to punish them severely. Condemning the alleged hate crime, Union Minister Ninong Ering said, “It delivers a wrong message to north eastern people.” Sudhanshu Trivedi of the BJP, said, “Racism against any student from any part of the country in the capital is condemnable. Delhi government should look into it.” (With PTI Inputs)