(Image source from: Did Delhi Police kill Nido Taniem?})
It's more than 72 hours now since the young student from Arunachal Pradesh, Nido Taniem was assaulted to death by an alleged group of local goons at a marketplace in Lajpat Area of New Delhi, but there is yet to be any significant achievement in bringing justice to the deceased boy.
Even as Delhi police have identified several suspects on the case and even detained five of them so far including two shopkeepers, protestors across the country are demanding for a fast track trial of the accused, claiming their act of blatant intolerance and racial discrimination as barbaric and ignominious.
But, amidst all the furore, vigil marches and outcry for justice for Nido, the big question remains if the death of the 19-year-old BSc first year student from Lovely Professional University (Jalandhar) could have been averted had the staff at the Lajpat Nagar police station seriously dealt with the incident of hate crime on the student immediately?
#Taniam lost his life on Thursday evening after he succumbed to the injuries sustained during a clash with a group of men at a sweet shop, Rajasthan Paneer Bhandar, in Lajpat Nagar Part-I. The men apparently hit him when he protested the taunts made on his hairstyle on Wednesday afternoon.
According to Taniam's family, Nido and his three friends alongwith the goons were taken to the police station following a PCR call, where the policemen insisted on an amicable compromise. What more, they apparently forced Taniam to shell out Rs10,000 to the two shopkeepers as compensation for allegedly damaging a glass at their sweet shop.
"After resolving the matter and making Taniam pay Rs10,000 to the shopkeepers, the police asked both the groups to leave. But when Taniam and his friends were going back to his sister’s house in Green Park, the other group stopped them in a lane in Lajpat Nagar and again thrashed him," said Taniam’s friend who wished not to be named.
Taniam and his friends again went to the police station and the other group was also called there. The police asked Taniam to make a compromise again.
Police, however, said Taniam himself refused to file any complaint against the suspects. "We have detained two shopkeepers, Farhan and Akram. A case of murder has already been registered," a senior officer said.
Meanwhile, the final autopsy report of Nido Taniem's postmortem report is awaited. Initial observation however reveals finds abrasion on head, face and neck, minor internal bleeding in neck and swelling of brain, which is usually a result of violent shaking of brain ( in this case punching & stick beating in head) which automatically leads to edema (water) in lungs, which caused blockage of respiratory system and imminent death thereof. This confirms death caused by violent beating.
In a separate case, the Delhi police has detained one person Prem, allegedly involved in harassing, abusing and molestation of two Manipuri women in Kotla Mubarakpur area.
The incident took place on January 25 when some men allegedly passed racist comments at - Tharmila Jajo and Chonmila. They weren't just beaten up, but also humiliated, when the men allegedly tied a dog’s chain to Chonmila’s boots.
AW: Suchorita Choudhury
