Isolated tribes kill an American on an isolated Indian island

NEW DELHI – An American adventurer who kayaked on an isolated Indian island populated by a tribe known to have fired on aliens with bows and arrows was killed, police said Wednesday.

Dependera Pathak, chief policy officer of the Andaman and Nicobar Indian Islands Police, said seven fishermen were arrested for helping the Americans reach North Sentinel Island. Residents of the Sentinels are resistant to strangers and often attack people who approach them, and visits to the island are severely limited by the government.

Pathak identified the American as John Allen Chau and said that he had told a hotel that he was 26 years old. It seems that Chau was shot down by arrows, but the cause of death can only be confirmed when his body is found, Pathak told The Associated Press.

"It was a misguided adventure case," Pathak said.

Police have contacted anthropologists with contacts on the island for the purpose of visiting and recovering the body, said Pathak.

He added that Chau had arrived in the area on October 16 and had been staying at a hotel while he was preparing to visit the island. It was not his first time in the area: Chau had visited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2015 and 2016, said Pathak. North Sentinel is located in the Andaman Islands, at the intersection of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.

Chau arranged his visit to the island through a friend who hired seven fishermen at the price of 325 dollars to take him on a boat, which also towed his kayak, said Pathak.

On November 15, Chau disembarked in his kayak and sent the boat with the fishermen at sea to avoid detection, Pathak said. He traded with some members of the tribe, offering gifts like a football and fish. But members of the tribe got angry and shot an arrow at him, hitting a book he was carrying, Pathak said.

After his kayak was damaged, Chau went swimming back to the fishermen's boat, which was waiting for him at a place agreed in advance. He spent the night telling his stories on pages that he later handed to the fishermen, said Pathak. He returned to the meeting of the tribes on November 16th.

What happened then is not known. But the next morning, the fishermen waiting watched from afar the men of the tribe pull Chau's body. They left for Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman Islands and Nicobar, where they announced the news to a friend of Chau, who informed his family, said Pathak.

He added that his family had made contact with the Indian police and the American consular authorities.

Police accused the seven fishermen of putting the American's life at risk by bringing him into a forbidden zone, Pathak said.

Kathleen Hosie, spokeswoman for the United States Consulate in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state, southern India, said she is aware of reports of an American living on the islands, but could not say more for reasons of confidentiality.

Survival International, an organization that works for the rights of tribal peoples, said the killing of the American should prompt the Indian authorities to adequately protect the lands of the Sentinels and other Andaman tribes.

"The British colonial occupation of the Andaman Islands decimated the tribes who lived there, wiping out thousands of tribe members, and only a fraction of the original population survived. The fear of foreigners in the Sentinels is very understandable, "said Stephen Corry, director of the group, in a statement.

Shiv Viswanathan, a sociologist and professor at Jindal Global Law School, said North Sentinel Island was a protected area and not open to tourists. "The exact population of the tribe is not known, but it is declining. The government must protect them, "said Viswanathan.

Poachers are known to fish illegally in the waters around the island, catching turtles and diving for lobster and sea cucumber fishing. Tribespeople killed two Indian fishermen in 2006 when their boat came to sea. detached and drifted on the shore.

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