A student from the North East holds a candle while shouting slogans during a protest in New Delhi. A week after the death of Nido Tania, Delhi police have failed to submit the post-mortem report. The Delhi High Court on February 7 expressed its displeasure at Delhi police and asked them to disclose the reasons for the delay and the preparation of the report. The beating and subsequent death in New Delhi of Nido Tania has sparked a furious outcry against racism and criticism of police in the Indian capital. (AP Photo)
New Delhi, February 7 (IANS): Delhi High Court on Friday pulled up the city police for failing to submit the post-mortem report in the death of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania and told them to furnish it by Monday. A division bench of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw asked police to appraise the court on the average number of post-mortem cases handled by hospitals in Delhi daily.
“The Delhi Police is directed to file an affidavit disclosing the average number of post-mortems everyday, the hospitals where the said facilities are available, the average time before which the post-mortem is taken up and the average time taken for receipt of the post-mortem report,” “The affidavit to also disclose the reasons for the delays in any in taking up the post-mortem and in preparation of report thereof,” the bench said in its order.
Advocate Dayan Krishnan, appearing for Delhi Police said that despite all efforts the post-mortem report has not come. He said that the viscera of the deceased has been sent to a central forensic lab for quick results. Krishnan assured that police would not take more than 15 days to file the charge sheet after receipt of the post-mortem report. The court, however, expressed displeasure at the delay and said there were cases in which post-mortem was not done even after seven days because of lack of facilities. “You don’t conduct post-mortem. Even after death, you don’t treat them properly,” it said.
Delhi Police and Additional Solicitor General Rajeeve Mehra informed the court that on August 31 2013, the city police chief issued an order for tackling problems faced by students and others from the NE in Delhi. The court asked Delhi Police to appraise it on the implementation and effect of the order and whether it has reduced the problems.
“When we fail to provide security to a particular section of the people, naturally some section will take advantage of it,” the court said. Mehra told the court, “We are taking strict measures to protect northeastern people in the country,” he said. The court retorted that if authorities had taken proper action, this type of racial attacks would come down. It also asked Krishnan to consider including police personnel from the northeast on deputation. The Delhi Police counsel said that nodal officers have been appointed for different police districts to look into the grievances of the people from the NE.
The court then directed Delhi Police to “make adequate publicity” about the appointments, so that people from the NE can approach them for redressal of problems. “We further direct the Delhi Police to interact with the people from the region in Delhi for suggestions for alleviating the issue.”
The court also asked a group of people from the northeast, who sought impleadment in the case, to suggest measures for the safety and security of people from the region living in other part of the country. Filing the application, the group informed the court that in the recent past, 26 cases of racial attacks on people from northeast have been reported. At this, the court asked the police to inform “as to how many of the said complaint cases were registered as FIRs and the status of investigations”. The court then posted the matter for further hearing on Monday.
The court further took suo moto cognisance of the incident, where Nido Tania, son of Arunachal Pradesh Congress legislator Nido Pavitra, was allegedly beaten up mercilessly by shopkeepers on January 29 in south Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar market, following a quarrel over his appearance and clothing. He died in a hospital the next day.
Feb 11 set for bail hearing of accused.
The bail pleas of two men arrested here for the death of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania will be taken up for hearing February 11 by a special court for cases of atrocities on Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Additional Sessions Judge, Rajender Kumar Shastri listed the bail application of Sunder Singh and Pawan for February 11 after the public prosecutor sought time for filing reply in the matter.
Nido Tania was attacked twice
Perpetrators identified from CCTV footage
NEW DELHI, February 7 (TNN): Delhi Police has for the first time acknowledged that Arunachal Pradesh youngster Nido Tania was assaulted twice. Investigators clarified that both rounds of beatings and the compromise deal between him and the shopkeeper took place before Police arrived at the crime scene.
A police investigation status report accessed by TOI categorically said Nido had two fights with the shopkeeper and his friends. This finding is based on witness accounts, CCTV footages, call details and statements of the 19-year-old victim’s friends who saw the incident, a source said.
The report mentions the sequence of events on January 29. Nido and his friends, Rikam and Thaki, it says, had gone to meet their friend, Larken, at Lajpat Nagar. When they asked the shopkeeper for directions, he poked fun at Nido’s hairstyle which annoyed him and he smashed a glass pane of the shop.
The agitated shopkeeper and his three associates immediately pounced on Nido, beat him up and made derogatory remarks about his caste, race and looks, the report says. Once neighbours intervened, the fight stopped but the shopkeepers insisted on compensation and Nido gave them Rs 7,000.
After the matter was sorted out, Nido reached Larken’s house nearby. “This is when a crowd again confronted them and two people from that group slapped Nido and made objectionable remarks on his caste and appearance,” the source said quoting the report. A police team apparently reached the spot after this.
The police report mentioned that Nido belonged to a scheduled tribe and was humiliated publicly. Investigators have further said that during investigations and videographic analysis, it emerged that Nido was brought by a PCR van to the police station. From there, two officers took him back to the spot for inquiries. But this time, he was not assaulted. The officers brought him back and handed him over to a family friend, Vinod R Bansal with whom he left.
In view of the gravity of the matter a medical board for forensic examination has been constituted at AIIMS whose final findings are awaited. This final report will take into account the CFSL/CBI toxicology report before concluding anything. “During investigations in the unfortunate death of Nido Tania, Delhi Police has identified six people out of whom two are juveniles. Three of the accused have been arrested for the assault. The last suspect, who is to be apprehended, also seems to be a juvenile,” an officer said.
