Bengaluru: The attack on Tanzanian student in Bengaluru on Sunday night has left the international student community in a state of shock.
Though, the Centre and the state government assured stern action against the perpetrators, thousands of student studying in the garden city expressed their fear and wary of going to public places.
The incident took place on Sunday after a Tanzanian woman was allegedly stripped and beaten on the streets in Bengaluru after a road accident. The incident happened after a Sudanese man ran over a local woman on Saturday night.
A day after the accident, locals saw a Tanzanian woman (the victim) and attacked her on suspicion that she was on the driving seat, which killed the local woman on Saturday night. Preliminary inquiry revealed that it was a case of mistaken identity but the 'strip case' drew nationwide criticism on social media and took a racial turn.
Bengaluru is a preferred education destination for foreign students and attracts over 12,000 students per year.
An eye-witness, who tried to help his fellow students from the attack, said, "They were shouting at us in Kannada. We didn't know what they were saying. They kicked and hit us."
Another African student said, "I feel unsafe and want safety. We are here only to study and we don't have voice to argue. Anything can happen to African here. If you go to cops there is a language barrier. Instead of helping us they walk away."
Meanwhile, with the growing sense of insecurity among the foreign students, the Acharya School of Management (where the victim is studying) has started a confidence building measures among the students. More than 1,500 foreign students (80% from Africa) are studying in the college.
Principal of the college Dr. H D Maheshappa, said, "Our College is safe for foreign students. Most of the students are in house and next week we are planning to have a dialogue with local gram panchayat to create awareness."
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