Attack on Tanzanian woman: Team comprising MEA officials to leave for Bengaluru on Friday

New Delhi: A team comprising the Tanzanian High Commissioner and senior MEA officials will travel to Bengaluru on Friday in connection with the alleged assault and stripping of a Tanzanian woman there, an incident termed as “isolated” by the government on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_2612894” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. IBNLive[/caption] The decision to send a team was taken at a meeting convened here by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who has described the incident as “shameful”. Terming the incident as “isolated”, MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said it was result of a “chain reaction” following a road accident in which a woman was killed. He said the incident should not be “generalised”. The ministry has received the report from the State Police Commissioner, who has assured that stringent measures were being taken to prevent occurrence of such incidents, he said. However, he did not elaborate on the details of the report. Noting that the minister called a meeting of senior ministry officials including Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, the Spokesperson said,“We condemn the incident unequivocally”. A team is leaving for Bengaluru on Thursday which will have the Tanzanian High Commissioner John WH Kijazi, who is also the Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps, along with ministry officials including Joint Secretary (States), he said. Asked about the remarks of Tanzanian High Commissioner that it was a “racist” attack, Swarup said there was initially a road accident following which there was a “chain reaction” leading to this “shameful and regrettable” incident. “We have assured our African friends that necessary legal action will be taken and stringent punishment will be given to those involved in the attack and that we will take all steps to ensure safety and security of African students in India,” the Spokesperson added while noting that there were about 5,000 African students in the country. A 21-year-old Tanzanian woman student was allegedly beaten up and stripped by a mob in a case of “mistaken identity” after a woman was mowed down by a car in Bengaluru on Sunday, prompting the authorities of the East African country to raise the matter with the Indian government. PTI