Kenyan woman lied about attack
GREATER NOIDA ASSAULT African group apologises for ‘cookedup’ story after cops prove that the woman was not attacked
Kenyan woman, who claimed that she was assaulted by locals in Greater Noida, was depressed because of personal issues and fabricated the attack, an African student group said on Thursday, apologising for what they called a “cooked-up” story.
The remarks came minutes after the Uttar Pradesh police proved with the help of electronic evidence that the Kenyan national, Maria Burendi, had lied about the assault and eye witness accounts tore holes in her story.
Burendi, in her early 20s, had claimed five men pulled her out of a cab and thrashed her while she was on her way to a friend’s apartment in Greater Noida’s Omicron Society. But police said on Thursday that her narrative was false.
Police said Burendi had booked the cab at 5.50am on Wednesday from Delhi Police society Greater Noida to Omicorn society. “The GPS movement of cab showed that the journey was complete by 6.20am and the payment was made to the driver at 6.30pm. She claimed she was attacked by a group of men during the journey and the cab driver fled the spot. But the electronic evidence suggests otherwise,” said Sujata Singh, superintendent of Police (rural).
The Ola cab driver, Pintu, said he dropped Burendi safely at her drop location at Omicorn society in Greater Noida.
“I dropped her to the society and the cab did not stop anywhere. I even waited for the next 20 minutes near the society for my next pick up. No such incident occurred,” said Pintu.
“GPS movement of car and payment slip of Ola cab driver show that car’s movement was not stopped during the journey. The lady has been lying,” said Dharmendra Singh Yadav, senior superintendent of Police, Gautam Budh Nagar.
Representatives from the Nigerian Students’ Welfare Association apologised soon after. The incident grabbed headlines because of a spate of attacks against Africans in the area, starting last Sunday.
“We investigated the matter later in the evening yesterday (Wednesday) and found that the woman was under distress due to personal issues. She had cooked up this story and we would like to offer our apologies to the police and people,” said Charles Kennedy, vice-president, Nigerian Citizen Welfare Association.
Police said they decided not to press any charges against the woman in an attempt to defuse tensions between Africans and locals. Frederick, a representative from the Kenyan high commission, said that the embassy was content with the investigation. “We are satisfied with the police investigation into the matter and the police have assured us that they will not press any charges against the woman.”
Police also said that a Police Control Room van had been deployed near the society during the alleged incident. “A PCR was stationed right outside the society where Maria claimed that she was attacked. Even they did not notice anything suspicious,” said Dharmendra.
Meanwhile, the police added one more name as prime accused in the Monday evening race riot that occurred at Pari Chowk in Greater Noida.
“Since there were thousands of people in the demonstration, which later turned violent, we have mentioned 1,200 unnamed people as mob in the FIR. However, there was an addition in the list of prime accused, taking the total to six,” said Sujata Singh.
The sixth person is Jatin Bhati, a member of Akhil Bharatiya Veer Gurjar Mahasabha. This development has allegedly irked local leaders of BJP and Hindu Yuva Vahini, who allege that the police is targeting activists. “All the prime accused are city-based activists who were at the spot to demand justice for the death of Manish Khari (the teenager who died due to drug overdose). The real miscreants have not been touched by the police,” said Chainpal Singh Bhati, district president, Hindu Yuva Vahini.