Nido Taniam


Nido Taniam, a 20-year-old student from Arunachal Pradesh, was murdered in the Lajpat Nagar area of Delhi, triggering widespread protests. Nido Tania was the son of Arunachal Pradesh Congress legislator Nido Pavitra. He was studying in Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar.

Background

Taniam had reportedly gone to Lajpat Nagar with his three friends on Wednesday evening and was looking for an address, when shopkeepers at a sweet shop allegedly began mocking him, discriminating on the basis of his hair and ethnic origin. Nido could’t stopped them with his innocence. He died of sever lung and brain injuries from an attack inflicted upon him in a South Delhi market. The accused are Farman, Akram and Pawan, who run the Rajasthan Paneer Shop.

Probe

The initial post-mortem did not reveal "much injury or aberration". Tissue samples were retained for further examination to help determine the cause of death. Delhi Police has registered a case of murder and nabbed the two accused. The Bezbaruah Committee was set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs in the aftermath of this incident to gather information on issues raised by people from Northeast India who are living elsewhere in India, especially in metro cities.

Reactions

The incident attracted widespread protests and criticism from Political Parties and Activists. Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Dilip Pandey said."The way police picked him up and then again dropped him to the same spot needs to be looked into".
Senior BJP Leader Arun Jaitley tweeted, "The death of a northeast student in New Delhi after being beaten up is barbaric and condemnable".
Minister of State for Minority Affairs Ninong Ering alleged that police did not file a complaint initially and said there was a compromise reached between Nido and the accused.

Aftermath

In wake of this incident, 7 advocates from northeast were empanelled by Delhi State Legal Services Authority to provide free legal assistance to people from North-East India staying in the national capital.