Dehradun killing of Tripura student: NESO seeks death penalty, anti-racism law

Shillong, Dec 30: The North East Students' Organisation (NESO), on Tuesday, demanded capital punishment for those responsible for the killing of a 24-year-old student from Tripura in Dehradun and sought the direct intervention of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in the matter.

NESO, an umbrella organisation of student organisations from all northeastern states, shot a memorandum to Uttarakhand Chief Minister, said that the attack on Angel Chakma was racially motivated, with the victim subjected to derogatory and demeaning racial abuse targeting their physical features.

The organisation also said that Angel’s brother, Michael Chakma, was also assaulted during the incident.

Such incidents, it alleged, were part of a recurring pattern of harassment and violence faced by people from the north east in different parts of the country.

Seeking urgent steps to ensure the safety of students and residents from the region in Dehradun and across Uttarakhand, the NESO urged the state government to implement effective measures to provide mental, social, and physical security through appropriate authorities.

Apart from capital punishment for the perpetrators, the organisation demanded the establishment of at least one special police station to deal exclusively with cases of racial discrimination and atrocities against people from the Northeast.

NESO also called for the enactment of a stringent anti-racism law, saying the existing legal framework was inadequate to address crimes rooted in racial and ethnic discrimination.

The organisation said it hoped for immediate action from the Uttarakhand government to ensure justice and prevent recurrence of such incidents.

Echoing the sentiment, family of Angel too demanded capital punishment or at least life imprisonment for all the accused involved in the incident.

"We will never get back Anjel, but his family wants capital punishment or at least life term imprisonment for those involved in the gruesome murder. Anjel had repeatedly said that he was an Indian, but the miscreants mindlessly stabbed him twice in the back and broke his neck, leading to his death after 17 days of battle for life," said Anjel's maternal uncle, Momen Chakma.

He urged the government to take steps so that people from the Northeast don't face racial hate crimes.

Twenty-four-year-old Anjel, an MBA student from Nandannagar in West Tripura district, was attacked by a group of six people when he objected to a racial slur at Dehradun on December 9, and he succumbed to his injuries on December 26.

PTI