Tanzanian girl stripped, beaten in Bengaluru; Sushma Swaraj “deeply pained”

Sushma Swaraj said that she had spoken to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and asked him to take stringent action against the guilty.

New Delhi: Reacting to the shocking incident in Bengaluru a few days ago when a Tanzanian student was stripped and beaten over a fatal accident in which she had no role, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said that she is “deeply pained over the shameful incident”.

She said that she had spoken to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and asked him to take stringent action against the guilty.

“I spoke to Karnataka CM. He informed me that a criminal case has been registered and four accused have been arrested,” Sushma tweeted.

However, Bengaluru Police have ruled out that it was a racial attack.

“It is a case of road rage, not a racist attack,” Bengaluru Police Commissioner told CNN-IBN. “No racism in Bangalore, I can assure full security to African community.” He further said that the police initially had no knowledge about the assault on the woman.

Last Sunday, an angry mob in Bengaluru mistakenly targeted a 21-year-old African student for an accident which has snowballed into a major controversy.

The mob reportedly thrashed her and tore off her clothes when she protested and pleaded them to leave her alone.

The African students union termed it a racial attack and demanded the authorities to take strong action against the accused.

Bosco Kaweesi, legal adviser for All African Students Union, said that “the situation is still not safe for the African students in the city”.

The girl was targeted some 30 minutes after a fatal road accident in which a 35-year-old woman had died when a driver of a car ran over her.

The angry mob then waylaid the victim's car, which had arrived at the spot later, dragged her out and started beating her. They also tore off her clothes.

The girl said that the police refused to register her case saying that they would only do so when she would bring the driver to them.

She pleaded that she did not even know about the accident nor she had anything to do with the driver, a Sudanese student, but her pleas went on deaf ears.

The police reportedly swung into action after the Tanzanian Embassy in New Delhi sought a detailed report about the incident.