Tripura youth dies after battling for life for 16 days following 'racial' attack
PTC News Desk: Tripura was gripped by grief and outrage on Saturday as the body of a young tribal student who succumbed to a brutal assault in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun district was brought back to the state.
Anjel Chakma, a final-year MBA student at Jigyasa University in Dehradun, had been battling for his life for several weeks after sustaining critical injuries in a violent attack earlier this month.
The incident occurred on December 9 between 6 pm and 7 pm in the Selaqui area of Dehradun, when Anjel and his younger brother, Michael Chakma, a student of Uttaranchal University, had stepped out to buy groceries. According to reports, the brothers were confronted by a group of unidentified youths, allegedly intoxicated, who hurled racially abusive remarks targeting their physical appearance. When the brothers protested against the slurs and insults, the confrontation quickly turned violent.
During the attack, Michael was reportedly hit on the head, while Anjel was stabbed in the neck and abdomen. Anjel was rushed to the intensive care unit of a local hospital, where he remained under treatment before succumbing to his injuries on Friday.
Anjel’s body was flown to Agartala via Delhi on Saturday. Family members, along with leaders of the Youth Tipra Federation (YTF) and the Tribal Indigenous Students’ Federation (TISF), received the mortal remains at Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport. The body was later taken to his residence at Nandanagar, where large numbers of people gathered to pay their last respects, before being taken to his native village in Unakoti district for the final rites.
The incident has triggered widespread anger, with the victim’s family and several student organisations demanding strict punishment for those responsible. They have also urged the Central Government to take decisive steps to address what they termed the continuing problem of racial discrimination against youths from the North-Eastern region in various parts of the country.
- With inputs from agencies
