In the same place at the same hour

Another foreign student was killed in St. Petersburg

Indian student Netesh Kumar Singh added to the martyrology of foreigners killed in St. Petersburg. He studied in his last, 6th year at the St. Petersburg Academy. Mechnikov and died at the hands of unknown persons late on Sunday evening. Perhaps this crime could have been prevented if the city authorities had fulfilled their long-standing promise - to protect all places of residence of foreigners, and in particular to install video cameras on the facade of the academy dormitory on Kirillovskaya Street. In recent years, this place has managed to prove itself sad - at least three times, bandits with knives have already attacked foreigners there in front of the entrance to the student building. However, if previously the victims managed to escape, this time the Indian was too seriously wounded. Around the same time, a black Sudanese construction worker was beaten by street thugs near a medical dormitory in the city center on Sunday evening. He survived and was hospitalized with head injuries and a concussion.

The investigation has not yet been able to fully establish the picture of the murder of Netesh Kumar Singh - he was alone on a dark street, and there were no witnesses to the crime. It is only known that at approximately 21.30 the student left the building, and soon screams and moans were heard inside the dormitory. Singha, who was stabbed seven times in the back and neck, managed to reach the hostel and climb to the 4th floor, where he literally collapsed into the arms of his comrades. The future doctors called an ambulance and immediately tried to stop the bleeding themselves. But the Indian died in the hospital, having only managed to say that three or four teenagers had beaten him. The St. Petersburg prosecutor's office opened a criminal case under Art. 105-2, regarding the incident as a murder for hooligan reasons.

Yesterday afternoon, about 150 Indians living in St. Petersburg picketed the building of the city prosecutor's office. The deceased’s fellow countrymen held a banner “Ban the activities of fascist organizations!” and chanted slogans in their own language. Several hundred more foreigners gathered at the Academy. Mechnikov, where Deputy City Prosecutor Andrei Lavrenko came to meet with them. He said that the investigation is now pursuing all versions, ranging from “domestic” and “hooliganism” to murder motivated by national hatred. However, activists of the organization “African Unity,” which defends the rights of foreigners in St. Petersburg, are inclined to suspect that the tragedy is another prank of skinheads. They reminded the deputy prosecutor that in April of this year, two thugs with knives had already waylaid a student from India, 23-year-old student of the Mechnikov Academy, Anjanga Kishori Kumar, at the entrance to the same dormitory. He received two wounds in the neck, and only prompt assistance, first from medical students and then from surgeons, saved his life. The academy's management yesterday promised students to post security at the entrance to the dormitory to prevent new incidents.

But the foreigners themselves are afraid that with the onset of the new academic year, the St. Petersburg Nazis will again reap their bloody harvest - every fall in the city there is a surge in attacks on students with a different skin color and eye shape. This spring, the city prosecutor's office already announced the exposure and arrest of a gang that specialized in attacks and murders on ethnic grounds. However, judging by recent events, this group was either not the only one, or some of its militants still remain at large.

Dmitry ANDREEV, St. Petersburg