Rohingya couple stabbed in Telangana refugee camp

Moulana Zahid Hussain and his wife Khatija were stabbed by four persons, suspected to be Rohingya, between 3:30 and 4 am in Royal Colony.

A Rohingya couple was injured after four people allegedly attacked them on Tuesday at a refugee camp in Balapur area on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Moulana Zahid Hussain and his wife Khatija were stabbed by four persons, suspected to be Rohingya, between 3:30 and 4 am in Royal Colony. Inspector S Mohan Reddy of Balapur Police Station said that it appeared to be an internal rivalry among the Rohingya refugees living in the colony.

“Hussain told us that four persons barged into his hut, abused him in Rohingya language, and then stabbed him with a knife. His wife tried to intervene and was also injured. We are waiting for Hussain to recover and give a statement. He said he can recognise the four people who attacked him as he had seen them in the camps,’’ Inspector Reddy said. The couple received very serious injuries in the chest and abdomen and the condition of Hussain is said to be serious.

Abdul Mushtaq, coordinator of Rohingya Project of Confederation of Voluntary Associations (COVA), which is helping the refugees, said that they are also looking into what triggered the attack. Hussain works as a tutor in the Rohingya camps.

At least 3,000 Rohingyas live in 15 camps in Balapur area. Hussain and two other families who had arrived a year ago were living in three huts they had built on a vacant plot of land between two camps. Police said that after the four persons barged into Hussain’s hut, there was an argument and the attackers abused in Rohingya language loudly which woke up the neighbours. But before they could intervene they stabbed the couple and fled.