In the latest in a string of incidents involving African nationals, a Kenyan woman became the latest victim of a racially-motivated attack in Greater Noida on Wednesday. The victim woman was allegedly assaulted and beaten up by unknown locals.
Security measures kept in place by the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police proved futile when 24-year-old Maria Burendi was attacked on Wednesday morning.
Burendi, a student who lives in Delhi Police society in Pi-2 Greater Noida, hired a cab to meet her friends in sector Omicron-1A, Greater Noida. On the way, the cab was suddenly stopped by a few men. She was subsequently dragged out of the vehicle by the unidentified men, who slapped and hit her hard in the abdomen.
"The girl was slapped and beaten in the abdomen without any provocation by the accused," said Anuj Kumar, SHO, Surajpur police station, Greater Noida.
The victim was taken to Greater Noida's Kailash Hospital for medical examination. She suffered some minor injuries but was later discharged after primary treatment.
"A case has been registered under Sections 147 and 148 (rioting), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of IPC against the unidentified men," added Kumar.
The doctor from Kailash Hospital who examined the woman said: "We have examined the woman and have found no major visible marks of injury. She has been discharged after first aid. The girl has alleged of physical assault and police will now investigate the matter".
The highly condemnable racially-motivate attacks against African nationals came to the fore on Sunday first when some Nigerian students were attacked in the city on Sunday. Since then, this is the third attack against African nationals residing in Greater Noida. They have been subjected to threats and advised by the African Association of students in India (AASI) to skip colleges and stay indoors till the city succeeds in ceasing the ongoing violence.
Gautam Buddh Nagar SP (Rural) Sujata Singh said: "We are in touch with officials of the cab-aggregator (that the victim had used) and trying to fetch the details of the driver. We are trying to identify the miscreants. Strict actions will be taken against them. The victim is absolutely fine now."
The cops claimed that they are making all possible efforts to protect the international students from any sort of mishap. "An extra police force has been deployed in the city. PCR vans are placed in most of the sectors of Greater Noida, which are occupied by these students. The colleges and universities are also provided with police force," said a top cop.