Indian Minister Under Fire For Calling Nigerian Students Drug Dealers

June 1st, 2016 – Indian Minister Under Fire For Saying Nigerian Students Commit Crime On Purpose

Police in the Goa Province of India said yesterday that they arrested a Nigerian for allegedly kidnapping and raping a 31-year-old woman on Saturday night. Superintendent of Police Umesh Gaonkar told journalists that the accused, one of two suspects who were accused of committing the crime, was nabbed in a train at Panvel Railway Station in Maharashtra.

He said: “I do not have any more details about the accused. He has been arrested. He will be brought to Goa later tonight.”

The victim, according to dnaindia.com, has claimed that two Africans had abducted her at knifepoint and later raped her at a rented room at Assagao village, 20km north of Panaji.

Police were on the lookout for the accused since late Saturday night, when the complaint was registered. Meanwhile, Goa Tourism Minister, Dilip Parulekar, said yesterday that Nigerian nationals “don’t just create problems” in Goa, but across the country, too.

The minister’s comment came as Africans in New Delhi staged a protest against rising attacks on them while a group of African students also met Foreign Secretary, S. Jaishankar.

According to Parulekar, when asked to comment on accusations of rape and abduction against two Africans levelled by a woman at Mapusa police station on Sunday, Nigerian students commit crimes on purpose to prolong their stay, sell drugs and indulge in “unwanted things”. The minister also said that a strict pan-India law should be enacted to deport them within a month.

[DNA INDIA]