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Here's What Happened To The 2014 Case Where 3 Africans Were Brutally Beaten In Rajiv Chowk

Unbelievable.
Screen grab of a video showing how three men from Africa were beaten up mercilessly in Rajiv Chowk metro station in September 2014.
Youtube/Gowsick 19
Screen grab of a video showing how three men from Africa were beaten up mercilessly in Rajiv Chowk metro station in September 2014.

NEW DELHI -- A year after three men from Gabon and Burkina Faso in Africa were brutally assaulted by a mob in Delhi's central metro Station—Rajiv Chowk—the police investigation was quietly closed after cops could not identify any of the assaulters.

On 28 September 2014, the three students were attacked by a mob of men as dozens of people stood around and watched. Many took videos of the incident that took place at 5.30 pm on a Sunday, and these later went viral on social media. The footage showed that these three men, aged between 20-22 years, were beaten with sticks, kicked, punched, and chairs were thrown at them. The crowd chanted, "Vande Mataram", and encouraged the attackers.

And the most shocking part? It all took place inside a Delhi Police booth at the metro station, and footage shows that Delhi Police, CISF guards, and metro security were all present as the assault took place. Yet, not a single person was arrested and a few months later, no chargesheet filed, and in 2015, the case was closed.

"No one was identified," DCP Metro Jitendra Mani told HuffPost India over the phone. "It is really tough to identify people from footage and track them."

The evidence of police apathy in the case is staggering—the entire incident was captured on camera, faces of the attackers can be clearly seen, police officers were present during the attack, and it was in a closed area with high security.

Ambassadors of Gabon and Burkina Faso even reached out to the Ministry of External Affairs at the time, asking for intervention. CISF claimed to have "rescued" the young students, yet the unruly crowd managed to beat these men even as they climbed on top of the police booth to escape.

That Indians have time and again been behind racist attacks on African men and women in the country is evident, but what is worse is that our institutions in charge of investigating and holding the guilty accountable are also failing these victims, as they are failing us.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.