Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji (SHP)
Panaji, Jan 22: Protests erupted at the Goa University on Tuesday after an Afghan student was mercilessly stabbed by a group of four youths.
The students protested against the incident of 'hate crime' demanding swift action against the culprits after the police arrested the youth.
The victim Maitulla Ari was accosted by four youth on a motorcycle, who ironically, had initially helped one of them up after he had fallen off his bike. But things took an ugly turn when they questioned Ari how he got hold of a Goa registered motorcycle which ended in a confrontation and a stabbing.
Ari (24) is being treated at a local hospital and his condition is reportedly serious. Sanmesh Shet, the president of the Goa University Students Union, has denounced the attack.
“We have gathered here to ensure that he gets justice and to protest the attack. These students are here as part of an exchange programme and for as long as they are here, they are like one of us. Attacks like these will instil fear among students and soon no one will feel safe in the university campus and no one will want to come here. It will be a shame for us,” Shet said.
The National Students Union of India also condemned the attack calling for a higher level of security at the university.
“The work of the government is to protect the state and the students that come to study, but there is absolute fear in the minds of the student body. The attack on the Afghani student in Goa also brings a question mark to the security of the foreign students who come to study and will send a very wrong message to the entire world regarding the law and order of the country,” NSUI state president Akbar Mulla said in a statement.
There are around 35 students who are studying at the Goa University as part of an Indian Centre for Cultural Relations (ICCR) programme to allow students to study at universities across India.
The police have arrested three persons including Satish Nilkanthe, a resident of Maharashtra residing in Goa, Desmond Fernandes and Suresh Egeri who have been remanded to police custody.