Nigerian Student Attacked With Iron Rod On Parking Place In Hyderabad

A 23-year-old Nigerian student received head injuries after a man in his neighbourhood hit him with a rod following a dispute over car parking in Banjara Hills area here, police said on Friday.

According to police, on Wednesday night an argument broke out between Nigerian national Ghazeem, a third-year degree student in a city college and a resident of Singadabasti locality in Banjara Hills area, and Mohd Gafoor after the former parked his car in front of Gafoor’s building, despite he being told to park it in his own apartment complex.

However, Ghazeem apparently refused to remove his car after which the scuffle broke out. Gafoor took out a rod and hit him on his head resulting in injuries, a senior police officer said.

“The incident occurred on Wednesday night after a dispute over car parking. Following a complaint by the Nigerian student, a case was registered against Gafoor and he has been taken into custody. We have started investigations into the matter,” Assistant Commissioner of Police (Banjara Hills Division) Uday Kumar Reddy said.A counter complaint was lodged by Gafoor, however no case has been registered, the ACP added.

“We have arrested the accused, it’s a case of car parking misunderstanding, not a racial crime,” said Anjani Kumar, Hyderabad Police. Meanwhile, the Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj asked a report from the state government about the incident.

Outraged over the killing, African countries have demanded concrete steps against ‘racism and Afro-phobia’ and sought deferment of the celebrations of Africa Day by India, which assured them of safety and security of their nationals.