Tania died of serious internal injuries, court told

The Delhi High Court was informed Monday by the city police that 19-year-old Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania died because of "serious" internal injuries in the head and the toxicology report came out negative.

A division bench of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw was told by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sidharth Luthra, appearing for Delhi Police, that Tania received serious injuries on his head, face, and lungs.

"There were nine internal injuries and the nature of external injuries were simple. The injuries in the head led to death. There is no poisoning found in the body," the ASG said reading out the post mortem report.

The bench also asked the central government to come up with draft guidelines for safety of people from the northeast living here and other parts of the country, which can be implemented immediately.

Appearing for the central government, ASG Rajeeve Mehra assured the court that the draft guidelines will be placed before the court Tuesday.

The court also asked him to take into consideration the suggestions given by a group of northeastern people, while the guidelines were being drafted.

"Already people of this part are thinking that they are being neglected. Its very dangerous. People of Delhi should not feel that Delhi only belongs to them. Everybody must get the opportunity to come to Delhi and take their share," the court observed.

"Some fear must be created that such things will not be tolerated," the bench said asking government to come up with guidelines.

During the hearing, ASG Luthra told the court that police have been taking measures to stop the violence against women and youth of the northeast region.

Luthra also said that police collected data relating to pending complaints and cases of crimes against northeastern people, but full details of cases could not be collected due to a holiday. Police said it will file complete report on status of cases pending in court on crimes against these people.

"There is no holiday for crime," the court remarked, asking police to file status report of old and recent cases filed by people from the northeast.

During the hearing, police said some of the cases mentioned in the application, filed by a group of people from northeast on cases of harassment and racial attacks, do not fall in their jurisdiction as they happened in neighbouring Gurgaon and Noida of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, respectively.

Police said they needed more time to collect complete details of the cases and their current status.

The bench also asked police to appraise it the immediate action taken by it for the safety of northeastern people.

Police also submitted a status report on average number of post mortem examinations conducted daily in government hospitals of all districts, which said on an average, 31.45 post mortems are conducted in a day.

On the delay in conducting the post mortems, police attributed it to lack of forensic laboratories in Delhi.

Meanwhile, counsel appearing for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the court that there is only one CBI forensic lab in Delhi and there is delay in providing results due to non availability of equipment. "We are handicapped because we don't have necessary equipment in the lab," said the counsel.

The court asked the central government to look into the reasons for delay of reports and provide the equipment immediately. Police had earlier told the court that viscera and toxicology of Nido was sent to central forensic lab of the CBI for quick results.

The court will further hear the matter Tuesday.

The court took suo moto cognisance of the incident where Tania, son of Arunachal Pradesh Congress legislator Nido Pavitra, was allegedly beaten up mercilessly by shopkeepers Jan 29 in south Delhi's Lajpat Nagar market following a quarrel over his appearance and clothing. He died in a hospital the next day.