The Dehradun police have urged the family of Angel Chakma to formally include allegations of racial slurs in their complaint following the tragic death of 24-year-old after an attack on him on December 9.
Photo : PTI
The Dehradun police is likely to ask the family of deceased Angel Chakma to formally include allegations of racial slurs in their complaint statement, police sources said. Chakma, a 24-year-old student from the northeastern state, was attacked by six men on December 9, and he succumbed to injuries on December 26.
Chakma who hailed from Nandannagar in West Tripura district was allegedly attacked when he objected to a racial slur at Dehradun on December 9. Five of the accused have already been arrested, including two minors sent to a juvenile reform home, while the sixth accused, a Nepalese national, remains at large with a reward of Rs 1 Lakh announced for his capture.
As the case is under investigation, Dehradun SSP may direct the new Investigating Officer to reach out to Michael Chakma — the younger brother of Angel — and record a fresh statement via video conference, documenting accounts of racist abuse, in this case.
The move comes after police noted that no mention of racial slurs was made by the Chakma family in statements from December 9 to 26.
Police maintain that while the family shared the racism allegations with the media, those claims currently have no legal standing as they are not part of the FIR or complaint.
The Dehradun police will now invite the family to update their statement with detailed accounts of the alleged slurs. The existing FIR only refers to casteist remarks, without specifying the exact words or racial language used.
The step aims to broaden the scope of investigation by incorporating new allegations raised after Angel’s death. Additional sections may be invoked once the updated statement is recorded.
What Angel Chakma’s Family Claimed in Their Statement
Earlier, Angel Chakma’s family claimed that one of the accused in this case who is from Manipur only lives there but is not indigenous to the state.
The family claimed that the accused belongs to the Brahmin community in Bihar and is only settled in Manipur adding he can carry provocative mentality against the Northeastern people.
In another statement, Chakma’s family said, “not all Nepalis look like us. Racial slurs isn’t a matter of who belongs from where. We are tribals, they are not. We are Indians, but they think we aren’t,” the deceased’s family said.
They further said that the Uttarakhand police are trying to mislead as it’s a shame that this incident happened in their state.
Responding to the Dehradun Police statement that they did not find any racial connection with Angel Chakma’s case, the victim’s family said, “According to the SSP of Uttarakhand Police, they have not found any racial connection with Angel’s incident culminating that one of an accused belongs to Manipur and another, the absconding accused to be of Nepal.”
“This statement is itself misleading to deny justice to Angel as well as all racial bigotry happening on daily basis against the Northeastern people. We have verified the statement and with certainty from our Manipur’s brother , we want to clarify that the accused belonging to Manipur is not exactly from Manipur descendant, he just lives there and non-indigenous to Manipur. He belongs to Brahmin community of Bihar so they might have settled there in Manipur very recently that amplifies that he carries the same provocative mentality against Northeastern people as same as many other Indian citizen has against us,” the family alleged.
“And the accused belonging to Nepal might have the exact same impression against us like the others do. As it evident that not all Nepalis look like us and many do look like non-tribal as well. And he is one of those who look like a person that belongs to that locality. Offcourse they tend to behave in a bitter way against us from time to time. He might belong to Nepal but living in that part of the country and mingling with those locals of that area has made him think and brainwashed to that level of hatred that people does against us. At this point, racial slurs used by those accused is not a matter of, who belongs from where or lives where but the whole point boils down to looks. We are tribals and they are not that speaks volume for them to pass racial slurs which is a crime in itself. We tribals from Northeast face racial discrimination because of our looks. Northeastern states also has many non-tribals community among us but due to their non-tribal looks, they hardly face any racial discrimination like we do. We look different from them (mainland) because we are tribals and they are not. We are Indians but they think we are not,” Angel’s family said.
The Uttarakhand police are trying to mislead the investigation because it’s a shame to them as well as such tragic incident happen in their own jurisdiction and trying to close case and minimise the degree of punishment to the accused, the victim’s family said.
What Uttarakhand CM Assured Tripura Counterpart on Angel Chakma’s Case
Earlier on Sunday, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said his Uttarakhand counterpart Pushkar Singh Dhami has assured him that all the persons responsible for the murder of a resident of the northeastern state in Dehradun will be arrested.
“I have already spoken to Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami, regarding the tragic incident involving our student Angel Chakma, a resident of Nandanagar, who was brutally assaulted by a group of miscreants in Dehradun on December 9, and later he expired at Graphic Era Hospital,” Saha told reporters at Hezamara in West Tripura district.
