Man jailed for life for stabbing student; police criticized for response

The details of the incident date back to last December in the city of Southampton in southern England, where Vikram Diguwa (23), a member of the local Sikh community, attacked student Henry Nowak (18) and injured him with six dagger stab wounds. Instead of helping the victim, the perpetrator's brother contacted the police, claiming that Diguwa had been subjected to a racist attack by Nowak, a narrative that was later not proven in court.

Upon the arrival of the police, Nowak was bleeding on the ground and dying. Footage from a police surveillance camera, released last Monday evening, showed that officers handcuffed him while he lay on the ground. Nowak was telling them he could not breathe and that he had been stabbed, to which one officer coldly replied, "I don't think so, mate." The officers also ignored his repeated requests to call an ambulance and told him he was being detained on suspicion of assault.

Nowak died shortly after the police arrived.

Last Monday, the Southampton court sentenced the killer Diguwa to life imprisonment with the possibility of early release after 21 years.

The video sparked angry reactions at the political level. In Parliament on Tuesday, Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary for the Conservative Party, said the police "were more concerned with accusations of racism" than with their desire to help the victim.

For her part, Home Secretary Y Shabana Mahmood described the incident as "a disturbing and tragic scene" and announced that an official investigation into the incident would be conducted. In response to Conservative calls to abolish current anti-racism rules within the police, Mahmood said it was "important not to overreact."

Source: RT + The Guardian