US missionary killed by isolated tribe on remote Indian island
AN AMERICAN missionary has been killed by a remote Indian tribe he was reportedly attempting to convert to Christianity.
John Chau, 27, was met with a volley of arrows as he set foot on North Sentinel Island, part of the Andaman Islands deep in the Indian Ocean.
Police sources told local media that Mr Chau was a missionary and travelled to the island to convert the Sentinelese tribe to Christianity.
International Christian Concern described Mr Chau as “an American missionary” and said he had visited the island chain on five previous occasions. In a statement, the Washington-based organisation said Mr Chau reportedly “expressed a strong desire to meet with the Sentinelese tribes to preach Christianity”, citing local sources.
However, Dependra Pathak, a police officer, told News Minute, a local website, that the American “was on a misplaced adventure in [a] prohibited area to meet uncontacted persons”.
On social media, Mr Chau presented himself as an adventurer and had previously spoken of his love of exploring and a desire to return to the Andaman Islands. Neil Macleod, a friend, said Mr Chau was based in Portland, Washington, and was working as a an emergency medical technician.
“He readily spoke of his calling to serve the Sentinelese. His calling came from a higher authority,” Mr Macleod wrote on Twitter.
Mr Pathak said authorities were still consulting with tribal welfare experts to determine how best to retrieve Mr Chau’s body.
The case has cast a rare spotlight on the Sentinelese tribe, one of the last in the world thought to be untouched by modern civilisation.
Mr Chau was killed on Nov 16 when he paid local fishermen to transport him to the island, according to a police source. “He was attacked by arrows but he continued walking. The fishermen saw the tribals tying a rope around his neck and dragging his body,” the source said. “They were scared and fled, but returned the next morning to find his body on the seashore.”
The US consulate in the southern Indian city of Chennai confirmed that it was aware of the incident. According to official sources, Mr Chau had a tourist visa to enter the Andaman Islands, where access to some restricted zones is given, and had made several trips to other Andaman Islands before offering money to fishermen to take him to North Sentinel.
Outsiders are banned from going within three miles of tribe’s home to protect their way of life and to safeguard them from 21st century diseases.
One police source said: “He tried to reach Sentinel island on Nov 14 but could not make it. Two days later he left the dinghy midway and took a canoe by himself to the island.”
Tribes such as the Sentinelese, believed to be only 150 in number, shun contact with the outside world and have a record of hostility to anyone who tries to get close.
The island was hit by the devastating 2004 tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean, but not much is known about the impact it had on the reclusive inhabitants. After the tsunami one member of the tribe was pictured trying to fire an arrow at an Indian coast
‘He was attacked by arrows. The fishermen saw tribals tying a rope around his neck and dragging his body’
guard helicopter. Indian authorities make periodic checks on the tribe from boats anchored at a safe distance.
Survival International, a group protecting tribal people’s rights, said: “The Indian authorities should have been enforcing the protection of the Sentinelese and their island for the safety of both the tribe and outsiders.”
Police in the island chain in the Bay of Bengal have launched a murder investigation. Deepak Yadav, a senior police officer, said a case has been registered against “unknown tribesmen” and that six fishermen and one other person were arrested.