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Indian officials should abandon their efforts to find the body of an American missionary who was allegedly killed by an endangered tribe in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a human rights group said. 39; man.
Survival International says any attempt is "incredibly dangerous" for tribal members and sentinel officials.
John Allen Chau was allegedly killed with arrows when he landed at North Sentinel on 17 November.
He was trying to convert protected people to Christianity.
Indian authorities struggled to recover Chau's body over the weekend, when a police boat faced members of the Sentinel tribes, but withdrew to avoid any confrontation.
"The risk of a deadly outbreak of influenza, measles, or other external diseases is real and increases with each contact," said Stephen Corry, director of Survival International. "Such efforts in similar cases in the past have resulted in an attempt by the Sentinelese to defend their island by force."
Mr. Corry concluded, "Mr. Chau's body should be left alone, just like the Sentinels."
Survival International defends the rights of tribal peoples and has campaigned for the protection of indigenous groups living in Andamans.
What happened?
Fishermen who transported Chau, 27, to North Sentinel said they saw members of one tribe pull a body along a beach and bury it.
The fishermen then accompanied the police to the point of the island where they thought the body had been buried.
Six fishermen and one other person were arrested for this incident.
On Saturday, police parked their boat about 400 meters offshore and used binoculars to spot armed men on the beach armed with bows and arrows.
Copyright of the image
Survival International
There are few images of the threatened tribe
Copyright of the image
Christian Caron – Creative Commons A-NC-SA
Sentinels stand guard on an island beach in 2005
Dependra Pathak, chief of the regional police, told Agence France-Presse: "They looked at us and we looked at them". The boat then retired.
"We have mapped the area with the help of these fishermen, we have not yet spotted the body, but we know about the area where it is presumed to be buried," Pathak said.
Why is it controversial?
Foreigners are prohibited from even approaching the island in order to protect the people who live there and their way of life.
The complete isolation of Sentinel residents means that contact with the outside world could put them at risk because they are probably not immune to even common diseases such as influenza and measles.
The tribesmen also treated foreigners with hostility for years. In 2006, two fishermen were killed and their bodies were placed on bamboo piles, Pathak said.
These bodies have been found, but it is feared that those of Chau are never found.
A murder case has been recorded against strangers, but it has not been suggested that tribesmen be tried.
Chau's family said that she forgave those who had killed her.
