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An Arunachal Pradesh MLA's son, studying in a college in New Delhi, was allegedly thrashed by some shopkeepers in Lajpat Nagar area of south Delhi when he retaliated after they made fun of his hairstyle, which led to his death.
Nido Tanian, son of Congress MLA and Parliamentary Secretary in Health and Family Welfare Department Nido Pavitra, died at his home in Green Park area on Thursday, police said.
His relatives claimed that he had an altercation with some shopkeepers on Wednesday 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 after which he died under suspicious circumstances, his relatives claimed.
"His postmortem has been carried out in AIIMS. The cause of death would be clear only after the autopsy report. There was some altercation he had on Wednesday, we are investigating the case," a senior police official said.
The Asian Centre for Human Rights has called upon the Delhi Police to invoke the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 against the ‘murderers’ of Nido Taniam.
The ACHR has also called for the trial of all the accused in a fast track court.
"There have been increasing racial attacks on the people from the North East India in Delhi. In addition to the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Delhi Police must invoke the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the murderers as well as the Delhi Police personnel who have failed to protect Taniam, a scheduled tribe, from being beaten to death,” said Suhas Chakma, director of Asian Centre for Human Rights
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."
“His family has been informed," he said.
According to Avinash Mishra, Chief Resident Commissioner, Arunchal Pradesh Bhavan, the incident took place on Wednesday when Tanian along with a friend had gone to Lajpat Nagar market to locate a friend's address.
"He asked for directions for at one of the shops there. Some workers of the shop started making fun of his blonde hair. He asked them not to laugh at him but they didn't budge. In a fit of rage, he perhaps hit the shop's counter breaking its glass," he said.
After this a scuffle ensued during which he was thrashed by seven-eight people with sticks. He was badly injured as seen in some of the pictures clicked by his friends, Mishra said.
"Following the commotion, police arrived on the spot which got a settlement done. The boy even gave Rs 7000 for the damaged counter. Police then called his uncle, Vinod, and asked him to take Tanian with him. Some of his friends arrived on the spot and took him with them," he said.
They went to a medical store in Safdarjung where they took a tetanus injection and went to his home in Safdarjung. He even took a cup of coffee before retiring to bed.
His friends say that he slept and 1 am and even got up once.
"However, he didn't wake up in the morning. He was taken to AIIMs, where he was declared dead," Mishra said.
Lok Sabha member from Arunachal Pradesh Takam Sanjoy has demanded immediate arrest and trial of culprits involved in murder of a student from the state in New Delhi.
Nido Tania, son of Arunachal Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Parliamentary Secretary Nido Pavitra has reportedly been beaten to death in Lagpat Nagar area of South Delhi.
"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.
With inputs from K Anurag
Image: Nido Taniam died after an altercation in south Delhi