Assault on Tanzanian student not 'racist' attack: K'taka HM

Amid uproar over assault on Tanzanian student in Bengaluru and questions being raised on 'racism' in the society, Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Thursday said that the incident should be seen as an isolated incident and must not be generalized.

"I have come here meet the victim. I have assured her all possible help.The incident shouldn't be generalised, it's an isolated incident," he told reporters after meeting the victim here.

"I still feel this is not a racial attack, it was a response to an accident where a lady was killed," he added.

Five people have been arrested so far in connection with assault on Tanzanian female student.

Tanzanian High Commissioner John WH Kijazi earlier said that 'mob justice' and 'racism' led to the unfortunate incident.

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

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.

The incident took place on Hesaraghatta Road in Bengaluru on Saturday 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.

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.