Autopsy report confirms Nido Taniam died as result of beating

The autopsy report of 19-year-old Arunachal youth Nido Tania has confirmed that the cause of his death was injuries to the head and face. Taniam died after he was brutally attacked in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar market, leading to wide spread protests and a debate on racism and profiling in India and New Delhi in particular. [caption id=“attachment_1382059” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Nido Tania. PTI[/caption] The full autopsy report that was released on Monday said, “Severe internal bleeding and injuries to head and face” were the cause of death. The report comes even as some news articles were released, saying that it was possible that Taniam had not died as a result of being beaten. Reacting to the report, social activist Binalakshmi Nepram said it was good that rumours of him dying due to a drug overdose had been put to rest. “He was beaten with sticks and iron rods… rumours said medications were the cause of death but I’m glad it is confirmed and I hope no other child suffers the death Nido did,” she said. The report will now be submitted to the Delhi High Court which had last week slammed the Delhi Police for its shoddy investigation into the case. Taniam had got into an altercation with some shop owners who had teased him over his hair style and in the resulting argument, had smashed the display glass of one of the shops. After being picked up by the police in the area, he was then allegedly dropped by the police to the same spot where the altercation had taken place, after which he was brutally beaten up by a mob. Three people have been arrested in connection with Taniam’s death, while three others are still evading arrest. Those arrested have been charged under the SC/ST act but with the autopsy report confirming that the cause of death was injuries to the head, they could be charged with homicide.