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Brown in America

India students fear attacks could be racially motivated. [updated]

By: Karthik :+: Under: Brown in America, Crime, Racism
On: ⋅ September 19, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment
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Living in a college town always has its own set of problems. Most times you are much safer than living in the middle of nowhere because students, faculty and the population in general are aware of the unique issues that foriegn students face when they come to a new country.

But apparently this is not the case in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The first time Ankur Tangirala was attacked, he shook his head, called his attacker a “psycho” and walked away.

The second time, he was kicked in the stomach and knocked to the ground.

A pattern of ongoing assaults near the University of New Mexico has disrupted the community of more than 100 East Indian students.

Fifteen students have come forward to describe similar attacks in the past few months. Five have filed police reports, either with UNM police or the Albuquerque Police Department, said Bhavana Upadhyaya, president of the India Student Association

What is surprising is that the attackers seem to target Indian students and at some point every attacker utters ‘Namaste’.

Danny Hernandez, president of the University Heights Neighborhood Association, says the frequency of the attacks appears to be escalating, with one assault per week for over the last month.

“It makes us wonder if these attacks are going to escalate to the point where the man has a weapon,” Hernandez said.

In a recent assault, Tangirala said, the victim reported that his attacker kicked him to the ground and then pulled a screwdriver out and threatened him with it.

“I don’t want to be sensationalist, but imagine if he gets a gun,” Tangirala said. “Can you say that there is no risk that he won’t shoot?”

I agree with Tangirala, what if the suspect was armed.

Do our readers have examples of such bizarre behavior in college/ college towns?

[update]

Thankfully, a suspect was in custody.

Last week the University police took into custody 34-year-old Turan Johnson who is suspected of assaulting several Desi male students. Johnson has a history of bizarre behavior and was placed at the UNM Mental Health Center on a 72-hour hold.

Later, he said in court that he is a student at an Indian school of medicine in Albuquerque. Johnson made several odd claims to the judge, including “I have 12 Chinese girlfriends.” Johnson was given a mental evaluation which helped police decide to charge him with a hate crime.

The key here, if something untoward happens, REPORT it to the authorities. Not everyone is crazy and this country is filled with a lot of people who are willing to help you.

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