Attack on African student case of mistaken identity

More than two-and-a-half months after Burundi national Yannick Nihangaza was brutally assaulted in Jalandhar leaving him in a coma,the police on Sunday claimed that the attackers had mistaken him for another African student.

More than two-and-a-half months after Burundi national Yannick Nihangaza was brutally assaulted in Jalandhar leaving him in a coma,the police on Sunday claimed that the attackers had mistaken him for another African student.

After producing Raman Uppal alias Romi,son of Punjab Superintendent of Police Dharam Singh Uppal in a local court,which sent him to two days police custody,senior Jalandhar police officials also claimed that they have identified nine accused in the case.

As per the police,Sahildeep Singh,an accused already in the police custody,had an altercation with an African student on April 21. Sahildeep later called his friends who were attending a party organised by another accused Jaskaran alias Jassa. After the party,all the accused went to Dashmesh Nagar,where a number of African students stay,and in a case of mistaken identity,attacked Yannick, said a police official. He added that Yannick was not even involved in the altercation.

Two of the accused,Amandeep Singh and Amarbir Bajwa are still at large while Jassa has fled to Australia on a student visa.

In Patiala,Yannicks family said on Sunday the Rs 5 lakh financial aid that the state government gave them was too little,too late. Accusing the police of shielding the guilty,they questioned why only three of the accused had been arrested till date and why Romi was held only after media highlighted the issue.

Yannicks cousin,Deogratias said,Its been 79 days. A police officer is supposed to protect people,not to harbour a criminal. And the police officer father should also be asked why he chose to obstruct justice.

Meanwhile,an official release tried to blame Lovely Professional University claiming Yannicks father Nestor Ntibateganya had alleged that its officials did not come forward to help the victim.

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Nestor,who interacted with Patiala Deputy Commissioner G K Singh when the latter went to hand over a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to the management of Columbia Asia hospital where Yannick is admitted,said LPU did not feel necessary to inform the Patiala district authorities about his son being admitted to the private hospital.

At the time of admission,the LPU authorities assured us that foreign students would be protected. I wrote to LPU a number of times for help but to no avail, Nestor alleged.

G K Singh assured Yannicks family that he would convey to the chief minister and the chief secretary that it was a lapse on part of LPU that it didnt inform the administration about the incident.

However,Aman Mittal,a senior official of LPU,said university authorities had been with Yannick in hospital till his father reached India. We even asked the police to arrest the culprits as soon as possible, he said.