An American Christian has reportedly been killed on a remote Indian island after he was shot by arrows fired by its Indigenous inhabitants.
The statement from the Chau family as it appeared on his Instagram account.
Dependera Pathak, director-general of police on India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, was quoted as saying that seven fishermen have been arrested for helping 27-year-old American John Allen Chau reach North Sentinel Island. Pathak said while he was believed to have been killed by arrows, the cause of death could not be confirmed until his body was recovered.
While Chau has been described as a “keen traveller and adventurer”, several media organisations have reported that he visited the island to convert its inhabitants to Christianity. The South China Morning Post reports that a source with access to handwritten notes made by Chau showed how he took gifts including scissors, safety pins and a football to the tribe and that while some members of it had been good to him, others were “angry and aggressive”.
In a statement on his Instagram page, the Chau family said they had received unconfirmed reports John had been killed “while reaching out to members of the Sentinelese Tribe in the Andaman Islands”.
“Words cannot express the sadness we have experienced about this report,” they said. “He was a beloved son, brother, uncle, and best friend to us. To others he was a Christian missionary, a wilderness EMT, an international soccer coach, and a mountaineer. He loved God, helping those in need, and had nothing but love for the Sentinelese people.”
The statement said the family forgave those reportedly responsible for John’s death and asked for the release of friends he had in the Andaman Islands, saying that he had ventured out “on his own free will” and that his local contacts “need not be persecuted for his own actions”.
It is illegal to contact the endangered Andaman tribes or even to photograph or make videos of them.
