Two boys from Nagaland were beaten up in the early hours of Thursday morning in Sikandarpur area of the city. All the North-Eastern residents in the area were allegedly later told to vacate their premises.
"The victims were two boys who had just moved to Sikandarpur. Six or seven boys beat them up with cricket bats and hockey sticks and later shaved off their hair," one eyewitness told ANI.
"They were later warned to not inform the police. However, we have filed an FIR and we will seek help from the higher authorities in New Delhi to help tackle this case," he added.
Another eyewitness claimed that the aggressors were drunk. "The attackers were drunk and while beating the two youth, they warned the two to not return to Sikandarpur. I also live in Sikandarpur and the people there have chased us away. We are also Indians, and have been born in India. We have come here from our villages to earn money," he said.
Congress Member of Parliament Ninong Ering, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh strongly condemned the assault and stated that only by passing legislation and imposing strict punishment racial attacks can stop.
"I strongly condemn the attacks. I have heard that the locality of Sikandarpur where the victims used to live has said that they will not allow any more North Eastern kids to live there. We are an integral and essential part of India, and we do not appreciate it if we are called citizens of China," he said.
"I will speak to Home Minister Rajnath Singh about this racial discrimination that people, especially from the North-East are facing. After all, the Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju himself is from the North-East. Till a legislation is passed on the same, no change will be brought about. We demand the same respect that they will give to their brothers, sisters and children," he added.
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Assistant Commissioner of Police Dalbir Singh, confirming that the FIR has been filed, stated that the accused will be nabbed shortly.
"The FIR has been submitted. We suspect alcohol to be behind the attacks. We are still trying to identify the suspects and have sent two teams to Sikandarpur," he said.
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