Two Nigerians were brutally beaten with cricket and baseball bats by a group of 12 men after one of them scolded a boy for hurling a water-filled balloon at him in New Delhi on Sunday, March 20, local media reports.
The victims, Evwrirhe Isaac, a football coach with a soccer club in Gulmohar Bagh, and his roommate, Abdul are yet to return to their house in Dwaka Mor since the incident because they have been receiving threatening calls.
“We are so scared… we are staying in my friend’s home and planning to leave this area. But we will fight and will try to get justice,” said Isaac.
Most of the residents told police they were not at home at the time of the attack, others claimed they knew nothing about it,
“We have registered a case under several appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code at Uttam Nagar police station and efforts are on to nab the accused,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Pushpendra Kumar told the newspaper.
Isaac said he was on his way to the market when a boy hurled a water-filled balloon at him. This angered Isaac and he caught hold of the boy and scolded him. He left the boy with a shopkeeper. Once he left, the boy’s brother arrived at the shop and the shopkeepers told him what happened.
“Within minutes, some people knocked on my door and began shouting. They then barged inside, ransacked my home and assaulted me and my roommate Aliyu Abdul,” said Isaac.
“They were hitting me… I pleaded with them to spare my life. I somehow managed to free myself and ran towards the balcony. They chased me and pushed me from the second floor of the building,” he added.
Speaking of the incident, his roommate Abdul said, “I kept telling them that I was not with Isaac during the incident, but they did not stop.”
Isaac claimed police registered a case only after senior officers intervened. “I went to the police station and requested them to help me out, but they refused to help, saying there was a strike going on in a government hospital, so they could not take me anywhere,” he added.
Isaac, who have been in India for eight years and has played for leading football clubs, said:
“I have been living in Dwarka for three years in a rented accomodation. I am used to people passing racist remarks, I have always ignored them. But what happened with us on Sunday was something beyond racism. We were beaten up so badly—we could have been killed.”
Source: Indian Express
