Indians Attacked in Congo's Capital Kinshasa Over African Man's Murder

New Delhi: The Indian community in Congo is facing the wrath of the natives over the killing of a Congolese man in Delhi. Several protesters took to streets in Congo's capital Kinshasa demanding appropriate action from the Indian government into the murder case of 23-year-old Congolese national MK Olivier.

There are about 5,000 Indians in Kinshasa.

India on Wednesday had assured the African countries of safety of their nationals. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her junior minister VK Singh went into damage-control mode after the African Heads of Missions (HoMs) sought deferment of the African Day event, expressing outrage over the recent killing and demanded steps against "racism and Afro-phobia".

Swaraj said she had asked Lt Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung to take necessary steps and ensure that the murder case is tried by a fast track court.

The External Affairs Ministry, in a statement, said Swaraj was personally monitoring the matter and assured the African envoys that safety and security of their nationals would be ensured.

The prime accused Mobin Saifi was arrested a day after the incident while his accomplice Prakash was arrested two days ago. The third accused Mukesh is still at large.

Police are trying to trace Mukesh. He is suspected to be hiding in one of the three states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

Mukesh was earlier arrested in a case of cheating and became friends with Saifi in Tihar prison in 2015. Saifi himself was arrested earlier in cases of criminal assault and molestation.

Olivier was a French teacher at a private institute in Delhi. He was allegedly beaten to death by the three men while he was returning from a friend's house in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area on the night of May 20.

While Olivier's friend and other African nationals in the area who rushed to his rescue alleged that the attack on Oliver took place on racial lines, senior police officials denied the allegations and claimed that this was not an incident of hate crime.

The fight between Oliver and the group broke out over hiring an auto-rickshaw, police claimed.