Michael Lamjathang Haokip after being beaten, in an apparent racist attack. (Photo: Sudipto Mondal, HT )
Bangalore: In an apparent incident of hate crime, a 24-year old engineering student from Manipur was beaten by a gang of three men in Bangalore for not knowing Kannada.
The attack took place past midnight in Indiranagar, a part of the city which has a high density of student population, particularly from North East states and Africa.
The victim of the latest attack Michael Lamjathang Haokip, president of the Thadou (Manipuri tribe) Students’ Association of Bangalore, sustained injuries to his head and back.
In his complaint, Micheal alleged that he was asked to leave the state, if he doesn’t know how to speak Kannada, and was said that this is India and not China. Reportedly, his friends had faced similar attacks in the same area in the past.
Haokip further alleged that the people who gathered at the scene took the side of the attackers, instead helping him. The mob scattered only after the police patrol car arrived to the spot.
Additional commissioner of police Alok Kumar said, “Three persons have been arrested and investigations are on to ascertain if this was a hate crime.”
