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By Elisha Fieldstadt and Associated Press
An indigenous rights group has called on Indian police to stop searching for the body of an American missionary suspected of being killed by members of a tribe opposed to the outside world, claiming that this research endangered everyone involved.
John Allen Chau, 26, was killed around November 16th on North Sentinel Island, part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Friends of the evangelical adventurer said that he was determined to bring Christianity to the Sentinel tribe, whose members are known to attack all those who approach him. The Indian government is heavily limiting visits to North Sentinel Island.
Indian police and officials from the forestry, tribal social services and coastguard departments have consulted with anthropologists and psychologists to determine how to find Chau's body safely. On Wednesday, officials used a Coast Guard boat to visit the island.
But Survival International, a global nonprofit advocacy organization for tribal members, urged officials to cancel the search, saying it puts them as well as endangered tribesmen.
"The risk of a deadly outbreak of influenza, measles or other external diseases is real and increases with each contact, and such efforts in similar cases have in the past resulted in the Presidia trying to defend their island by force, "said Survival. International Director Stephen Corry. "Mr. Chau's body should be left alone, as well as the Sentinels."
According to a police statement, Chau had already interacted with the tribes, bringing gifts like a football and fish. But a day or two before his death, a boy had shot an arrow at him, according to the newspaper entries.
On November 16, he tried again to approach the members of the tribe, but the fisherman who had helped him to visit the island observed the next day men of the tribe who were dragging the body from Chau. Seven fishermen who helped Chau reach the island were arrested.
Chau's family said in a statement posted on his Instagram account last week that he "had only love for the Sentinels."
"We forgive those responsible for his death. We are also asking for the release of his friends from the Andaman Islands, "they added. He ventured voluntarily and his local contacts do not need to be persecuted for his own actions ".
