A TOURIST from the US has been killed with arrows by an endangered tribe the moment he set foot on their forbidden island in the Indian Ocean.
John Allen Chau has been named as the American who was killed on North Sentinel Island, home to the endangered and territorial Sentinelese tribe. Mr Chau, 27, was illegally ferried to the location among India’s Andaman and Nicobar islands by fishermen after he told them he wanted to preach Christianity there, local media have said. One of the officials said: “A murder case has been registered.” Both officials requested anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
As any contact with the isolated tribe is forbidden, Mr Chau’s killers can not be prosecuted.
The tribe, a community of dangerous hunter-gatherers, has a protected status meaning they cannot be contacted by the outside world.
A source said: “He tried to reach the Sentinel island on November 14 but could not make it. Two days later he went well prepared. He left the dinghy midway and took a canoe all by himself to the island.
“He was attacked by arrows but he continued walking. The fishermen saw the tribals tying a rope around his neck and dragging his body.”
The source added: “They were scared and fled but returned next morning to find his body on the sea shore.”
When the fishermen returned to South Andaman Island where they had travelled from, they told a local preacher and friend of Mr Chau what had happened.
Regardless of the tribe’s protection, Deepak Yadav, a police official in the island chain in the Bay of Bengal, said officers have launched an investigation.
A spokeswoman for the United States consulate in India’s southern city of Chennai said: “We are aware of reports concerning a US citizen in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
“When a US citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts.”
Another source said Mr Chau had a strong ambition to meet the Sentinelese tribe.
His body has not yet been retrieved from the forbidden island.
