![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() “Based on requirements, further reconnaissance will be carried out,” he said on Tuesday. “The rights and the desires of the Sentinelese need to be respected and nothing is to be achieved by escalating the conflict and tension, and worse, to creating a situation where more harm is caused,” they said.ĭependra Pathak, the director of police in the Andamans, said a crime had taken place and police had an obligation to investigate – which could involve further surveys of the island to collect evidence to enable the issuing of a death certificate for Chau. “Mr Chau’s body should be left alone, as should the Sentinelese.”Ī group of Indian anthropologists, authors and activists issued a similar statement on Monday. “The risk of a deadly epidemic of flu, measles or other outside disease is very real, and increases with every such contact,” its director, Stephen Corry, said in a statement. Chau had no permit, police said.Ĭhau had wanted ever since high school to go to North Sentinel to share Christianity with the indigenous people, said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Covenant Journey, a program that takes college students on tours of Israel to affirm their Christian faith.Survival International, a group which advocates for the rights of tribal peoples, has called on Indian authorities to abandon any recovery efforts, which it said would be “incredibly dangerous” for both sides. While special permits are required, scholars say visits are now theoretically allowed in some parts of the Andamans where they used to be entirely forbidden, including North Sentinel. India recently changed some of its rules on visiting isolated regions in the Andamans. Tribespeople killed two Indian fishermen in 2006 when their boat broke loose and drifted onto the shore, but Indian media reports say officials did not investigate or prosecute anyone in the deaths. India has a hands-off approach to the island's people. Police surveyed the island by air Tuesday, and a team of police and forest department officials used a coast guard boat to travel there Wednesday. (Gautam Singh/Associated Press)Īfter the fishermen realized Chau had been killed, they left for Port Blair, the capital of the island chain, where they broke the news to Chau's friend, who in turn notified his family, Pathak said. North Sentinel Island, in India's southeastern Andaman and Nicobar Islands, is populated by a tribe known to be hostile to outsiders. In an Instagram post, his family said it was mourning him as a "beloved son, brother, uncle and best friend to us." The family also said it forgave his killers and called for the release of those who assisted him in his quest to reach the island. Pathak said seven people have been arrested for helping Chau, including five fishermen, a friend of Chau's and a local tourist guide.Ĭhau was apparently shot and killed by arrows, but the cause of death can't be confirmed until his body is recovered, Pathak said. What happened then isn't known, but on the morning of the following day, the fishermen watched from the boat as tribesmen dragged Chau's body along the beach and buried his remains. He returned to North Sentinel the next day, Nov. That night, he wrote about his visit and left his notes with the fishermen. The 26-year-old self-styled adventurer then swam back to the fishermen's boat waiting at a safe distance. On his first day Chau interacted with some tribesmen - who survive by hunting, fishing and collecting wild plants - until they became angry and shot an arrow at him. ![]() A simple thing like flu can kill them," he said. Joshi noted that the visit not only risked Chau's life, but also the lives of islanders who have little resistance to many diseases. Joshi, an anthropology professor at Delhi University who has studied the islands. While visits to the island are heavily restricted, Chau paid fishermen last week to take him near North Sentinel, using a kayak to paddle to shore and bringing gifts including a football and fish. Police are consulting anthropologists, tribal welfare experts and scholars to figure out a way to recover the body, he said. "We have to see what is possible, taking utmost care of the sensitivity of the group and the legal requirements." "It's a difficult proposition," said Dependera Pathak, the director-general of police on India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where North Sentinel is located. Indigenous 'man of the hole' has lived alone in Amazon rainforest 22 years.American killed by isolated tribe on Indian island. ![]()
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