Congo student's murder: Even Africa is not safe, says Minister Mahesh Sharma

Amid growing outrage over the killing of a Congolese national in Delhi, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma has said that even African countries are not safe.

In an interview to IANS, Sharma said, that the incident was unfortunate and such incidents gave a bad name to India. However, even Africa is not safe, he said. 

He added that such incidents took place in other countries too and cited an example from his visit to South Africa to prove his point. 

"When I went to South Africa, I was stopped from going for a morning walk at 6 am by the hotel people citing security reasons. My post-dinner walk was also dropped for the same reasons. It's not fair to say that India is unsafe," said the minister.

Sharma's remarks come after the outrage over the killing of a 23-year-old Congolese national MK Olivier in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area.

Meanwhile, African countries have demanded concrete steps against 'racism and Afro-phobia' and sought deferment of the celebrations of Africa Day by India, which assured them of safety and security of their nationals.

Dean of African Group Head of Missions and Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam said the envoys of 42 African countries met and deliberated extensively on recent attacks against its nationals.