It was a horrific Monday night for several foreign nationals in Byrathi near Kothanur as a mob sought out, chased and attacked Africans who were in the area. For nearly three hours, the area was tense due to “riot-like-situation,” during which four persons from Ivory Coast and two policemen sustained injuries.
The assaults were triggered allegedly after locals were annoyed at high speed, high-decibel driving by an unidentified rider, said to be an African national, and a “rashly-driven” car, also with foreigners in it. Though the two vehicles escaped the barrage of stones that was thrown on them, it was unsuspecting Africans in the area who bore the brunt.
The attacks started around 12.30 a.m. “The mob ran riot till about 3 a.m., attacking any African they saw... I was also threatened for calling the police,” said a resident. John, a businessman in Ivory Coast who was visiting his sister, was among the first to be attacked. He was returning home with his sister and her boyfriend when the mob targeted them. While his sister and her friend took shelter in Christ The King Church nearby, John received multiple injuries as the mob chased him.
Henry (22), a student of Kristu Jayanti College, was also attacked.
David and his three friends — Sako, Merveil, Abdel — were walking down the road when they were assaulted. “We didn’t even know why they were hitting us. We feared for our lives,” David told The Hindu.
