Tripura youth killed in India after being tagged as 'Chinese'

A tribal student from Tripura has died following an alleged racially motivated attack in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, sparking outrage and renewed calls for stronger protections for people from India’s North-East.

Angel Chakma, 24, an MBA student and son of a member of the Border Security Force (BSF), died on December 26 while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dehradun. He had been stabbed on December 9 during an altercation with a group of local youths. Angel was a resident of the Pecharthol area in Tripura’s Unakoti district.

According to the Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI), the attackers allegedly racially abused Angel and his brother Michael Chakma, calling them “Chinese,” “Chinki,” and “Momos.” When the brothers protested the remarks, the situation escalated into violence. Angel was stabbed in the head and back and collapsed at the scene before being taken to hospital.

Police have arrested five local residents in connection with the incident, but the main accused remains absconding. Describing the killing as a “racially motivated murder,” CDFI has urged Amit Shah, India’s Union Home Minister, to ensure justice for the victim’s family.

CDFI founder Suhas Chakma alleged that the Uttarakhand police failed to act promptly, claiming the FIR was registered three days late and that key legal provisions - including those related to attempted murder, aggravated grievous hurt on racial grounds, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act- were not initially invoked. He said this negligence enabled the main suspect to flee.

The organization compared the case to earlier incidents of racial violence, including the 2014 killing of Nido Tania in Delhi, and argued that existing legal provisions remain inadequate to address persistent discrimination against people from North-East India. CDFI has demanded that authorities register the case as murder under relevant penal provisions, arrest the main accused immediately, provide Rs 1 crore compensation to Angel Chakma’s family, and establish a special helpline in Dehradun for North-Eastern residents, similar to Delhi’s Special Police Unit for the North-Eastern Region.

Investigations are ongoing, and police have not yet responded to the specific allegations regarding procedural lapses.