Sudanese student jumped to death fearing police raids

A Sudanese student succumbed to injuries last week after he jumped from a second-floor balcony in Kammanahalli during a police raid last month. The student, who suffered internal bleeding and a fractured spine, died in hospital on August 1.

Mohammed Al Khair (Khiralla) (25) jumped to avoid arrest for overstaying on his student visa, according to family and friends. His friends shifted Khiralla to a private hospital in Kalyan Nagar and later to Nimhans, where he underwent two surgeries. Though doctors deemed the surgeries successful, Khiralla passed away when blood clots triggered a cardiac arrest.

"It was because of the that he jumped," said Okoye Paschal Chukuebuka, president of the All Indian Nigerian and Community Association in Bengaluru. "He was trying to find a way to run away," he said.

Khiralla's cousin, Moufag Ahmed Jado, said he "panicked".

The building in Kammanahalli from where Sudanese student Mohammed Al Khair jumped to his death. DH Photo/Janardhan B K Caption

That same morning, the Whitefield police detained more than 200 people and arrested 111 — along with their hosts — for allegedly overstaying their visas, following information from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO). The arrests included foreign nationals from 12 African countries. "Overstay is normal and not such a big deal," Jado said. "Now, it's changing. The police arrested many people who overstayed and took them to jail."

Khiralla, a native of Khartoum in Sudan, and the oldest of five children, first came to Bengaluru on a student visa with two of his cousins in 2013. He studied computer applications at BET College for a few months, but then switched to an affiliate of the Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU). Although Khiralla attempted to transfer his student visa status to the new school, according to Jado, the FRRO would not permit the change. Khiralla's visa expired in 2016, and his passport in 2017, according to a senior police officer.

Friends held a burial near the Karnataka College last week. More than a hundred people, most of them Sudanese, gathered to grieve, according to Mobarak Abdalla, president of the Sambhram International Students Association (SISA). While Khiralla's family mourned his death back home, others shared photos and offered words of love on his Facebook page.

"His family was waiting for him all these years to come back home. They missed him so much and now he's gone forever," Jado wrote to DH.

According to Abdalla, students from African nations have "stopped coming here", opting instead to study in Malaysia and China. He highlighted the irony of the recent events. "The day this happened, (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi was in Africa," Abdalla said.

107 South African citizens will be extradited soon, says DyCM Mangaluru, DHNS: Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara has said that 107 South African citizens, who were arrested for illegally residing in Bengaluru and were involved in cases related to narcotics drugs, will be extradited soon. Speaking to reporters here, Parameshwara, who is also the home minister, said that the state government is committed to sending back illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from the state as well. "The state government is in contact with the South African Embassy to send back their nationals. The expenditure for sending the arrested South Africans back will be borne by the state government. It will later be collected from the embassy," he said. The government will track down all foreign nationals residing illegally in Karnataka, he added.