An American is reported to have been killed by an endangered tribe in India’s Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Fishermen who took the man to North Sentinel island say tribespeople shot him with arrows and left his body on the beach.
Local media say he was a missionary. He has been identified as John Allen Chau.
Contact with indigenous Andaman tribes living in isolation from the world is illegal. Estimates say the Sentinelese number between only about 50 and 150.
Seven fishermen have been arrested for illegally ferrying the American to the island, police say.
Local media have reported that he wanted to meet the tribe to preach Christianity to them.
“Police said Chau had previously visited North Sentinel island about four or five times with the help of local fishermen,” journalist Subir Bhaumik, who has been covering the islands for years, told BBC Hindi.
“The number of people belonging to the Sentinelese tribe is so low, they don’t even understand how to use money. It’s in fact illegal to have any sort of contact with them.”
In 2017, the Indian government also said taking photographs or making videos of the aboriginal Andaman tribes would be punishable with imprisonment of up to three years.
