A high-level team from New Delhi, including Tanzanian high commissioner to India, will leave for Bengaluru today in connection with the assault on a Tanzania woman in the Karnataka capital.
The decision to send the team was taken at a high-level meeting convened by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here yesterday. The meeting was also attended by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, secretary (economic relations) Amar Sinha and other senior officials of the ministry.
“A team is going to Bengaluru which includes the high commissioner of Tanzania, who is also the dean of the African diplomatic corps,” external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said at a media briefing here.
“The team also includes the joint secretary (states), director (east and southern Africa) in the ministry of external affairs and the regional director of ICCR (Indian Council of Cultural Relations), which liaises with the students who come here on ICCR scholarships,” he said.
Five people suspected of assaulting the Tanzanian woman student were arrested early yesterday, Bengaluru police commissioner N S Megharik said.
“We have arrested the five accused after interrogating them on Wednesday night,” Megharik said.
The commissioner, however, did not disclose names and ages of the five accused.
In a case of mistaken identity, a mob assaulted the victim suspecting her to be a friend of a Sudanese student, Mohamed Ahad, whose car ran over a woman pedestrian (Shabana Taz) injuring her fatally while driving drunk on Sunday night.
“We condemn this unequivocally,” Swarup said.
“The external affairs minister, in her tweets yesterday, has expressed her pain over the shameful incident,” he said.
Sushma Swaraj has also spoken to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and sought an official report, he added.
Secretary Sinha also spoke to Tanzania high commissioner, John W H Kijazi, and expressed regret at the incident.
“Our joint secretary (states), Partha Satpathy, who happened to be in Bengaluru, liaised immediately with the state and local authorities,” Swarup said.
He also said that a report has been received from Bengaluru Police commissioner.
“The commissioner has assured us that stringent measures are being taken to prevent occurrence of such incidents in future,” the spokesman said, adding that “our African friends” have been assured that necessary legal action would be taken and stringent punishment would be given to those involved in the incident and that all steps would be taken for the safety and security of African students in India.
There are around 5,000 African students in India.