A Nigerian national was brutally beaten up by the residents of Malviya Nagar’s Savitri Nagar in the early hours of September 24 after he allegedly tried to commit theft in a house. Videos of the African being thrashed by a group of people emerged on Monday.
The police had arrested the Nigerian national, identified as Ahmad, after the residents informed them about the theft attempt. On Monday, the police arrested Krishan Kumar, the man who lodged a complaint against Ahmad, after the videos of the thrashing emerged, claimed Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) Ishwar Singh.
According to the complaint registered at the Malviya Nagar police station, Ahmad allegedly broke into the second-floor house of Mr. Kumar from the roof of the building. Mr. Kumar’s two brothers reside in the same building on the first and ground floor. He alleged that he heard the almirah in his room creek open and woke up to find the accused standing in front of him. He tried to catch hold of Ahmad, but he allegedly pushed him and tried to flee.
Handed over to public
“My father even got injured when he was pushed by the man. He shouted for help to wake my uncles up. They managed to catch him. By then a lot of our neighbours had also gathered,” said Mr. Kumar’s 20-year-old daughter Ankita. “He (Ahmad) was then handed over to the public,” claimed Mithilesh, Mr. Kumar’s sister-in-law, adding that they “don’t know” what happened after that. Earlier in the day, Mr. Kumar told The Hindu over the phone that “the Nigerian was handed to the public who may have beaten him, but he wasn’t involved.”
Injury marks
Residents of Savitri Nagar agreed that Ahmad was tied to a pole and beaten up by many people around 4 a.m. and that they did not regret their act. “He was tied with ropes and beaten up by residents. He was caught red-handed and had been troubling us for the past two months here,” said Pawan Kumar, a 40-year-old resident, alleging that Ahmad had committed theft in several households in the area.
Mr. Kumar called the police and when they reached the spot, they found Ahmad with injury marks all over his body. “When the locals were questioned, they said he had jumped from the roof of Mr. Kumar’s house onto the ceiling of a neighbour’s house. When his medical examination was conducted, he didn’t say he was thrashed by public and didn’t inform anyone how he got injured,” said the DCP, adding that Ahmad was found in possession of a wire cutter and a bag with master keys.
The police claim that they got to know about the residents thrashing Ahmad only on Monday after the videos went viral. However, Ms. Mithilesh claimed that police officers have been regularly visiting their house to enquire about the people who beat him. The DCP did not respond to the query on whether the police were aware or not.
On Monday afternoon, Mr. Kumar was taken to the police station for questioning and was later arrested on charges of attempt to commit culpable homicide. The police have denied racial attack. “No one has the right to beat him even if there are allegations. Mr. Kumar has been arrested and four others have been identified. There is no indication of a racial attack,” said Mr. Singh.
