People from Northeast-India continue to suffer amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. They are facing a lot of racial discrimination from the people and are often termed as COVID-19.
In a recent from Bengaluru, A neighbour knocked on their door, forced himself into the apartment of Northeast women and walked around accusing them of being carriers of Covid-19.
Not just that, he started videotaping the girls while hurling racial slurs at them and demanded they vacate the house the next day. The incident happened at 12.20 am on Monday at an apartment in Anepalya, Koramangala.
As per reports, helpless and traumatised, the girls called up the police. While the police constable, who reached the spot in the night, is alleged to have taken the side of the neighbour, the girls did find backing from the landlord and community heads from the North-East region.
The women, who are all in their mid and late 20s, had recently rented the small apartment on 7th Cross in Anepalya after the company where they were all working refused to pay their salaries amid the lockdown. Their neighbours suspected them to be ‘Chinese nationals’ and thus called them ‘carriers of the Coronavirus’.
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The accused John Kin (40), police said, was arrested soon after the girls lodged a complaint in the Ashok Nagar police station on Monday.
“We are interrogating the accused. A case under section 355 of IPC (Assault with intent to dishonour person) has been registered,” a senior police officer, investigating the case, said.
The girls, who are still in shock after the incident, were not immediately available for a reaction. One of the victims, who posted about the incident on Facebook at 6.30 AM on the same day, received a lot of support while the post also faced criticism against the way police handled the situation. However, the post has gone viral with over 4,500 shares.
Dr Rini Ralte for Northeast Solidarity, a Bengaluru-based NGO came to the support of the girls and helped them register a police complaint. She later told a local media portal that many people hailing from the North-east region of India were battling the stigma of being the carriers of the Coronavirus.
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