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Nigerian man’s death prompts allegations of police brutality, triggers protest

By, New Delhi
Mar 29, 2021 03:04 AM IST

The police, however, denied all allegations and, insisted that an initial medical examination of the victim, identified as Leohand Lyeanyi, had not revealed any visible external injuries.

A 43-year-old Nigerian man’s death in west Delhi’s Tilak Nagar after an alleged brief interaction with a policeman in the early hours of Sunday prompted allegations of brutality by police and triggered protests by around a few dozen people on Outer Ring Road near Vikaspuri.

Heavy police deployment as a large number of Nigerian nationals protest against the police after the death of a Nigerian man in the early hours of the morning at New Delhi on Sunday, March 28, 2021.(HT Photo)
Heavy police deployment as a large number of Nigerian nationals protest against the police after the death of a Nigerian man in the early hours of the morning at New Delhi on Sunday, March 28, 2021.(HT Photo)

The police, however, denied all allegations and, insisted that an initial medical examination of the victim, identified as Leohand Lyeanyi, had not revealed any visible external injuries and that the man’s death had nothing to do with his interaction with a policeman and a home-guard on patrolling duty in the area.

Urvija Goel, deputy commissioner of police (west), said while the report of the autopsy — carried out by a board of doctors and recorded on camera — was awaited, the police were in the process of acting against the protesters, who allegedly took to rioting near Vikaspuri, under the Tilak Nagar police station’s jurisdiction.

“We have rounded up some people who were rioting. They are being booked and will be arrested,” said Goel. “While we are continuing the probe, we want to make it clear that there were no external injury marks on the man’s body. This fact has also been stated in the medico-legal examination report,” the DCP added.

The police said Lyeanyi was living in Krishna Puri neighbourhood of Tilak Nagar. According to his friends, Lyeanyi had been living in Delhi for the past many years and was into medical tourism, particularly catering to patients from Nigeria.

Speaking to HT, Lyeanyi’s relative, Yabo Stan said the man was walking from his home to the main road to board a cab and receive a patient at the airport in the early hours of Sunday, when he was stopped by two policemen riding a motorcycle.

Stan alleged that the policemen tried to extort money from Lyeanyi. “Eyewitnesses have told me that when Lyeanyi said he only had enough money to pay for his cab fare, one of the policemen hit him on the back of his head with a stick. We have seen CCTV footage, which shows a policeman hitting Lyeanyi,” alleged Stan.

“The police have taken control of all the CCTV footage and are burying all evidence,” Stan added, when asked for a copy of the CCTV.

Later, some Nigerians rushed Lyeanyi to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, where he succumbed during treatment.

The police, however, gave an entirely different account of the incident.

According to the DCP, a policemen and a home guard were patrolling the streets around 2.30am when they noticed three-four men walking in the dark. “Hearing the sound of the siren from the patrol bike, the men began running away. Seeing them run, the policeman and home guard began chasing them,” the DCP said.

While the others managed to escape in the narrow bylanes, the home guard caught up with Lyeanyi. “CCTV footage shows Lyeanyi getting into an auto, hopping off it and holding on to a shutter of a shop, before collapsing,” the DCP said. The home guard was around when Lyeanyi collapsed, the DCP said. Goel added there was no evidence of the home guard “having any physical interaction with Lyeanyi”.

While the police continued to check CCTV footage to stitch together the entire sequence of events, dozens of people from African countries took to protesting at the Outer Ring Road.

Initially limiting themselves to sloganeering against the police, some protesters later allegedly vandalised vehicles on the road. The police briefly baton charged the crowd to disperse them. The protesters dispersed, but quickly returned, with some agitators pelting stones and bottles at the police.

The baton charge left at least five protesters with visible injuries. The police said they were yet to take stock of injuries to their personnel.

“The police here have been harassing us. They take bribes from us when we are unable to produce our documents. They frisk us without any reason. Even the local shops sell goods to us at a higher price,” alleged Jude Osia, one of the protesting Nigerians.

“There has been no specific complaints regarding bribery,” said a police officer.

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