Indian tribe kills US missionary with arrows for visiting barred island

An American tourist was killed by a tribe on a remote Indian island as soon as he set foot on their island.

North Sentinel Island, off-bounds to visitors, is home to the Sentinelese, who killed John Allen Chau, after he was illegally ferried there by fishermen, officials said

The Sentinelese are a community of hunter-gatherers who live there isolated from the outside world.

“A murder case has been registered,” one of the officials told Reuters.

Because contact with the tribe is forbidden Chau’s killers cannot be prosecuted despite taking a life.

Both officials asked for anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Chau, 27, had reportedly visited the island hoping to preach Christianity to the tribe.

A source told AFP:

“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.

“They were scared and fled but returned next morning to find his body on the sea shore.”

When they got back to Port Blair on South Andaman Island they told a local preacher, who was a friend of Chau’s, what had happened.

Cops have launched an investigation, Deepak Yadav, a police official in the island chain in the Bay of Bengal, said in a statement late on Tuesday.