Autopsy of Arunachal Pradesh Student Confirms Assault Caused Death, Uncle Says

NEW DELHI — The final autopsy report of Nido Tania, the 18-year-old from Arunachal Pradesh who died after an altercation with shopkeepers in south Delhi, confirmed that injuries suffered during an assault caused his death, Mr. Tania’s uncle said Monday.

Mr. Tania was found dead in his Delhi home on Jan. 30, a day after getting into a quarrel with two shopkeepers who allegedly used a racist slur against the student. Mr. Tania ended up breaking a glass display, and then the police were called.

The police took all parties to the station and brokered an agreement under which Mr. Tania would pay for damages. But Mr. Tania later told his father that the police had dropped him off near the dairy store, where he was beaten by the shopkeepers. The shopkeepers’ neighbors have denied that a second attack occurred.

Last week, Nido Jose Apil, Mr. Tania’s uncle, recounted a doctor’s initial report on the autopsy at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital, which showed Mr. Tania had head injuries and brain swelling before he died. The initial report also found an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the lungs caused a blockage of the respiratory system, which led to the young man’s death.

The Delhi police received a copy of the final report and informed Mr. Tania’s family that Mr. Tania’s death was caused by a beating, Mr. Apil said in a phone interview on Monday.

When asked about the injuries that caused Mr. Tania’s death, Rajan Bhagat, a Delhi Police spokesman, said Monday that the “matter was under investigation,” and that they still had to determine what caused the fatal injuries.

The parents of Mr. Tania, who is the son of a local legislator in Arunachal Pradesh, have blamed the Delhi police for bringing their son back to the dairy store. They contend that the police failed to protect their son despite being aware of the threat to him.

Mr. Tania’s death has sparked widespread protests by young men and women from the northeast, calling attention to the discrimination they face in other parts of India, where they are often harassed because of their East Asian features….

Click here to read more