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Two policemen who were present when the 24-year-old Tanzanian student was attacked and allegedly stripped by an angry mob at Soladevanahalli on Sunday evening did not come to her rescue, it has now emerged. Worse, they pushed one of the students back towards the mob when he pleaded for protection, the girl recalled while narrating the ordeal to Home Minister G. Parameshwar on Thursday, police sources confirmed.

Mr. Parameshwara himself drew a spate of criticism on Thursday after he said the attack was not racial and that she would not have been targeted had there been no accident in the area involving an African student.

“My friend Hashim Jamal, who was driving the car, was dragged out by the mob and beaten up,” the victim, a student of Acharya Institutes in the city, told the media after meeting the Home Minister.

“Shockingly, there were cops at the spot and they did not come to our rescue. I saw two cops to whom Jamal ran for help. But they not only refused to protect him, but pushed him back at the mob. Hashim, again for a second time, went and fell at their feet and pleaded that if he were to die he would rather it happened at the police station, after which they acted to control the mob.”

Senior police officials who were part of the meeting also confirmed that the girl reported this to the Home Minister and Police Commissioner N.S Megharik, who met the victim at Yeshwanthpur police station.

The girl is reported to have told the Minister that when she approached the police for help soon after the incident on Sunday night, she was asked to get the Sudanese national who caused the accident.

When she protested that she did not know the Sudanese national, the policeman allegedly made a racist remark.

Meanwhile, though the victim was unable to provide more information to identify the two cops, senior police officials said finding them wouldn’t be difficult. “It is part of the probe and we will not spare them,” a senior official leading the investigation said.

MEA team to arrive in Bengaluru to reassure African students

A five-member team from the Ministry of External Affairs, including the High Commissioner of Tanzania, will arrive in Bengaluru on Friday to reassure the African students in the wake of Sunday’s incident in which a Tanzanian woman was stripped and assaulted by a mob.

“The team will meet and assure the African students who are our guests. There are more than 5,000 African students studying in various institutions across the country. This is a regrettable incident, but an isolated one,” Vikas Swarup, MEA spokesperson, said here on Thursday.

The government’s efforts in describing the Bengaluru incident as a stray case without any racial undertone comes against the backdrop of terse criticism from the Tanzanian High Commissioner John W H Kijazi who described the mob attack and assault on the young woman and her friends as a racial one.

Kijazi said the victims alleged that they were attacked because they were black and it was a case of racial discrimination. “Everybody is entitled to their own assessment, but there is an element of mob justice and racism. That’s my assessment. She was attacked because she was black like the guy who caused the accident,” he said.

After being informed that five suspects have been arrested by the police, the African diplomat noted that it was a good progress.

The reason behind delayed police action, Swarup said, was because the girl filed the complaint two days after the incident.

Besides the Tanzanian High Commissioner, other members in the Central team are senior MEA officials and the regional director of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, which is in touch with the foreign students.

The MEA team’s plan to travel to Bengaluru was firmed up at a review meeting chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who received a report from the Bengaluru police commissioner about the incident. Sushma also spoke to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to ensure safety and security of all foreign students in the State.

Earlier, the High Commission of Tanzania in India sent a “note verbale” about the attack on African students in Bengaluru to the MEA, asking the government to follow up on the matter and take necessary legal action against those involved in such attacks and to ensure safety and security of all African students in India.