A month and a half after two Malayali students were assaulted by shopkeepers and police officers in Delhi, the Supreme Court called it a wholly unacceptable act of racial discrimination. The students, Sudhin K from Kasargod and Ashwanth IT from Kozhikode, are enrolled at the Zakir Husain Delhi College for a Bachelors degree in Political Science.
The court made the observation on November 11, while hearing a petition about the racial discrimination faced by the people of Northeastern states, including the murder of a student from Arunachal Pradesh in Delhi.
It was on September 24 that Sudhin and Ashwanth, both 18-years-old, were allegedly attacked by shopkeepers and members of the police force at a market near the Red Fort. Sudhin told TNM that they were approached by a shopkeeper who tried to sell them an Apple watch. “We said no and walked on, but a little later the vendor brought along a few men and accused us of going to his shop and not paying him,” he said.
Sensing trouble, Ashwanth approached a police officer for help. “However,” Sudhin recounted, “the officer turned on us. He began to hit us and made us kneel in front of everyone.”
He alleged that the police officer then confiscated their phones and handed them over to the shopkeeper. “Ashwanth was worried about his new iPhone being taken away, so he snatched it and ran to the police booth nearby,” Sudhin said.
The students alleged that their lack of Hindi proficiency and choice of clothing (lungis) had provoked the attack. “We had been in Delhi for only a month at the time and could not speak fluent Hindi,” Sudhin explained.
The situation allegedly got worse at the police booth. “There again, we were beaten by the Assistant Sub Inspector. Each time we tried to explain we were students and had nothing to do with any theft, he kept asking us to speak in Hindi. When we couldn’t, he stripped us of our lungis and demanded that we pay the shopkeeper to settle the matter,” Sudhin said. He then managed to let some seniors at their college know of their predicament. “It was only when they came to the police booth at 9 pm that we were let go,” he added.
According to The Hindu, the shopkeepers alleged that the attack was triggered by the fact that the two had failed to make the full payment for a purchase they allegedly made a few days before the incident. “When they visited the market again on September 24, the hawkers identified them, got into a quarrel and manhandled them,” DCP (north) Raja Banthia reportedly said. Sudhin told TNM that they had never been to the shop before.
According to Sudhin, it took the two students a few days to process the events of September 24. In the meantime, they went to a hospital and had their injuries checked. Aswanth was badly hurt and sustained bruises, Sudhin said. There was also the mental trauma.
Later, they filed a complaint with the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police in Central Delhi, following which a First Information Report was filed against one of the police officials and the vendors who attacked them. An internal Departmental Inquiry (DI) has also been initiated by the police.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Member of Parliament John Brittas intervened in the matter to press for justice.
“We were called for compromise talks, during which the officers who assaulted us apologised. But we are going ahead with the case legally. Our families had wanted us to return home. But we managed to convince them that we had to continue our studies,” Sudhin said.