Tanzanian girl assault case: Karnataka acts at last, suspends 4 police officers

Bengaluru: Four police officers, including a police inspector, were suspended on Friday after City Police Commissioner N.S. Megharikh reviewed a report submitted by Additional Commissioner of Police, West, Charan Reddy on the alleged policemen’s laxity even as mob at Hesaraghatta went on the rampage, stripped a Tanzanian girl student and burnt two cars on Sunday night.

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

The suspended officials have been identified as Praveen Babu, the police inspector, Manjunath, a constable, attached to the Peenya police station, V. Jagdish, constable attached to Soladevanahalli police station, and C.K. Honnesh, a traffic police constable with the Jalahalli traffic police station.
The report revealed that Constables Manjunath and Jagdish were at the spot when the Tanzanian girl was stripped and assaulted, but failed to protect the victim. They could have alerted their senior officials about the seriousness of the incident, or called for more backup so that it could have been sent to avert the incident.

Read: She asked cops for help, they threw her to the mob: Tanzanian girl’s friend

It was a clear dereliction of duty as they failed to control the mob when it went berserk. The victim, too, who has given a statement to the police that the two constables did not protect her from the mob and stood watching despite she running towards them seeking help and intervention, the report stated. The two constables’ statements corroborated with that of the victim’s version, and the two were placed under suspension.

Read: Release the arrested first: Deceased woman’s husband

Inspector G. Praveen Babu not only failed to handle the situation, but also did not follow up the case, leading to a major embarrassment for the state government. Honnesh, who was deputed on duty at the accident spot, failed to alert his seniors about the rampaging mob and failed to perform his duties as per the standard operating procedure, the report stated.

The state government submitted a report to the officials of Ministry of External Affairs, who arrived in the city on Friday. Trying to brush it off as a case of road rage and mob fury, the state officials refused to term it a racist attack.

Read: Not here to discuss racism: Tanzanian High Commissioner in India

Meanwhile, the police arrested four more accused on Friday in the arson and rioting case, bringing the total number of arrested to nine. They have been identified as Parvez, 28, Aslam Pasha, 24, Thahir Pasha, 21, and Rajanna alias Gas Rajanna 44, all residents of Ganapathi Nagar and surrounding areas in Hesaraghatta.

The police carried out the arrests based on the CCTV footage from the police and other commercial establishments in the area. The arrested four were being interrogated to extract details and information on the others involved in the arson, rioting, stripping and mobbing incident, police sources said. The police said more arrests are likely to continue, while the local residents approached politicians to save the innocent.

Read: Will work for peace: African students

The furious villagers gathered to protest against the police, who swung into action after the state government applied pressure on them. “We are born and brought up here. We have been tolerating these students, despite their nuisance and brazen behaviour. Nobody seems to care about a mother of two who was killed in an accident by a drunk African student. Everybody is supporting the African woman, who alleged that she was stripped and assaulted by a mob,” a villager said.