Five held, K'taka says case not racial attack

Five persons have been arrested for the alleged assault and stripping of a Tanzanian woman in the city, with the Karnataka government on Thursday claiming that it viewed the incident "seriously" but rejected suggestions that it was a racial attack.

As the incident on Sunday took a serious diplomatic turn, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said five men had been arrested and that Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had spoken to him. A report would be sent to her, he said. "A case has been registered, five of them (accused) have been arrested. Sushma Swaraj also spoke to me, I will also be sending her a report through my Chief Secretary," he said. The CM said he has asked the police to conduct an inquiry on why a complaint was not taken immediately.