New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Friday assured northeastern students about their safety and said there was no “racial discrimination” against the community in the capital city.
Dikshit, who was addressing students gathered at Jantar Mantar here to protest the rising crime against the community in the past few weeks, promised measures to ensure their security.

“I know there are a rising number of cases. I want to assure you that there is no racial discrimination against the community in the capital,” she stressed.

“I assure you the state will come up with concrete measures to ensure your security,” she added.

Dikshit said there would soon be a 24×7 toll free helpline dedicated for addressing problems of the northeastern students staying in Delhi.

Nearly 300 students and other members of the community Friday afternoon gathered to protest the rising attacks on members of their community.

What triggered the protests was the brutal murder of a Naga girl last week. Nineteen-year-old Ramchanphy Hongray was strangulated by her neighbour Pushpum Sinha, a PhD scholar of IIT, in her Munirka home in south Delhi.

Sinha, who is said to be suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder, then burnt the girl’s face to mislead the police. Sinha killed the girl as she had spurned his advances and he thought she would spill the beans, the police had said.

Arunachal Pradesh MP Takam Sanjoy told IANS: “Twenty MPs from the northeastern states are meeting here next week to discuss the further course of action.”

He said the delegation would also meet Home Minister P. Chidambaram to urge him to step up security for the community.