Indian police map of the island where an American man was killed


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John Allen Chau

NEW DELHI – Police announced they have mapped the area of ​​an isolated Indian island where tribal members were seen burying the body of an American adventurer and a Christian missionary after the war. have apparently killed with arrows this month.

But before trying to find 26-year-old John Allen Chau's body, authorities must learn from experts "nuances in the group's conduct, especially in this type of violent behavior," said Dependra Pathak, the executive director. Police of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where North Sentinel Island is located.

During their visit to the vicinity of the island Friday, investigators spotted four or five residents of North Sentinel moving in the area at a distance of about 500 meters (1,600 feet) from the coast. a boat and studied their behavior for several hours, said Pathak.

"We have more or less identified the site and the region in general," Pathak said by telephone on Saturday.

The Indian authorities are struggling to find a way to find the remains of Chau, who was killed by residents of the northern Sentinels. He apparently shot him with arrows and then buried his body on the beach.

Friday's visit was the second boat trip of the week by a team of policemen and officials from the forestry, tribal social services and coastguard departments, Pathak said. Officials took away two of the seven people arrested for helping Chau get closer to the island to determine his itinerary and the circumstances of his death. On the morning of November 17, fishermen who had taken Chau to the shore saw members of the tribe dragging and burying his body.

Officials do not usually visit the North Sentinel area, where people live as their ancestors did thousands of years ago. The only contacts, occasional "gift" visits in which bananas and coconuts were passed by small teams of officials and scholars who remained in the waves, took place years ago.

Indian ships monitor the waters around the island, trying to ensure that strangers do not approach the Sentinelese, who have repeatedly indicated that they wish to remain alone.

Chau went "to share the love of Jesus," said Mary Ho, International Director of All Nations. All Nations, an organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, participated in Chau's training, discussed the risks with him, and sent him on a mission to support him in his "life job". she adds.

"He wanted to have a long-term relationship and, if possible, to be accepted by them and live among them," she said.

When a young boy tried to hit him with an arrow on the first day of his stay on the island, Chau returned to the fishing boat that he had planned to wait off. The arrow, he writes, struck a Bible that he carried.

"Why does a little kid have to shoot me today?" He wrote in his notes, which he left with the fishermen before returning to the water the next morning. "His shrill voice still sounds in my head."

Police said Chau knew that the Sentinels resisted any contact with strangers, throwing arrows and spears at passing helicopters and killing fishermen drifting on their shores. His notes, reported Thursday in Indian newspapers and confirmed by the police, clearly indicate that he knew he could be killed.

"I do not want to die," wrote Chau, who seemed to want to bring Christianity to the islanders. "Would it be wiser to leave and let someone else go on. No, I do not think so."

Chau paid the fishermen to take him near North Sentinel, using a kayak to row ashore and bringing gifts, including a football and a fish.

The Indian government lifted the restrictions on travel to the island in August, said Ho. She said she could not say why Chau had gotten there as he had done but that he had carefully planned the thing.

All nations have contacted the US State Department, Ho said. She does not know yet whether it will be possible to recover Chau's body.

"We are just in mourning and shocked by her death," she said. "At the same time, we consider it a real honor to have worked with him, to be part of his journey."

Scholars know almost nothing about the island, the number of its inhabitants to the spoken language. The Andamans once had similar groups, long-term migrants from Africa and South-East Asia who had settled in the island chain, but their numbers have declined considerably in the last century due to illness, intermarriage and migration.

Five fishermen, a friend of Chau and a local tourist guide were arrested for helping Chau.

Chau, whose friends have described him as a fervent Christian, studied at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Previously, he had lived in southwestern Washington State and had gone to Vancouver Christian High School.

In an Instagram post, her family said she was crying him as a "beloved son, brother, uncle and best friend." The family also claimed that she forgave her killers.

The authorities claim that Chau arrived in the area on October 16 and stayed on another island while he was preparing to travel to North Sentinel. It was not his first time in the area because he had visited the Andaman Islands in 2015 and 2016.

With the help of the friend, Chau paid fishermen $ 325 to take him there, according to Pathak.

After the fishermen realized that Chau had been killed, they left for Port Blair, the capital of the island chain, where they announced the news to a friend of Chau, who warned his family, said Pathak.

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