Disturbing videos and pictures of a Nigerian lady being tied up by the Indian police have surfaced online. The lady, who is likely a student, can be seen in the video tied up with her arms behind her back by Indian authorities, ostensibly in a bid to restrain her.
The woman, whose name is given as Mariam, is said to be in her late 20’s. She is reported to have attacked shopkeepers at the National Market in Bengaluru, India, on Monday, June 27, after the shopkeeper in a phone store failed to attend to her.
According to eyewitnesses at the scene of the busy market, a visibly angry Mariam hit the shop’s glass counter with her fist a number of times. Shop attendants cautioned her about her actions, telling her the glass might break. A now-enraged Mariam banged the counter even harder until the glass eventually broke, leaving her with minor cuts on her hands.
The noise from the breaking glass and the ensuing argument drew a lot of attention, and soon, a small crowd of other shopkeepers and shoppers had gathered around the scene. Someone alerted the authorities, and the local Upparpet police responded to the call. According to Indian newspaper The Hindu, when the police attempted to pacify the lady, she allegedly attacked them. The police later wrestled her to the ground, crudely restrained her with a rope, and loaded her into a police van along with an unidentified male who had accompanied on her visit to the market.
Mariam and her companion, who had sustained minor cuts near his eye, were taken to the K.C. General Hospital in Malleswaram for medical tests. At the hospital, a completely infuriated Mariam would not alight from the police van. Attempts to get her to comply were unsuccessful and only served to get her to respond violently. When Mariam calmed a little, she was again wrestled to the ground and sedated by hospital staffers who first had to throw a bedspread over her.
The African Student Association in India has decried the actions of the police for the use of excessive force. India has an especially poor record in its treatment of its African immigrant students. The Indian authorities, however, insist that Mariam was in a drunken state and that she was treated professionally, adding that they used only minimal force necessary to subdue her.
