'Attack was result of mob justice, racism,' says Tanzanian Envoy

New Delhi: With five people being arrested so far in connection with the assault on Tanzanian female student in Bengaluru, Tanzanian High Commissioner John WH Kijazi on Thursday said that 'mob justice' and 'racism' led to the unfortunate incident.

"We are looking at it from both the angles. Everybody entitled to their own assessment, but there is an element of mob justice and racism. That is my assessment. She was attacked because she was black like the guy who caused the accident," the Tanzanian Ambassador said.

Read: Bengaluru cops ‘rescued’ drivers, left stripped Tanzanian girl to mob’s mercy

He, however, acknowledged that authorities were showing great concern over the unfortunate incident and have given assurance that justice would be done in the case.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had condemned the attack on the Tanzanian student, and asked for stringent punishment for the guilty.

The Tanzanian student was beaten and then stripped by a group of locals in Bengaluru after they assumed she was part of an incident in which a Sudanese man had run over a local woman.

Read: Bengaluru: Mob strips Tanzanian girl, torches her car as police watch

The incident took place on Hesaraghatta Road in Bengaluru on Sunday night after a Sudanese national ran his car over a 35-year-old woman resulting in on the spot death of the woman.

The Tanzanian student was travelling in another car, a Wagon-R, along with four others. The young woman, who arrived on the spot around 30 minutes later, was dragged out of the car and paraded naked after being stripped by the mob.

Read: Road rage gets a foreign face

The victim told the police in her complaint that when she tried to get on a bus in order to escape the assault, people on the bus pushed her back towards the mob.

Earlier, the local residents set fire to two cars belonging to the African students, who studied in local colleges in Ganapathinagar on Hesaraghatta Road.