John Chau's body may have been buried, but the Indians who killed him don't seem to want to let it go. Indian police approached by speedboat a few hundred meters from North Sentinel Island, where they were able to observe members of arguably the world's most isolated tribe, who recently killed an American missionary.
John Chau, 27, was killed on November 17, stabbed with an arrow, by hunter-gatherer people living on an island in India's Andaman and Nicobar archipelago whom he wanted to evangelize. This tribe firmly rejects attempts at contact from the outside world. Their language and customs are still a mystery. This island, which is half the size of the city of Paris, is prohibited from entering. It is prohibited to approach within 3 miles (5 km). Authorities wanted to do everything they could to avoid disturbing the community, estimated at 150 people, who could have died from a disease as mild as the common cold.
Perhaps the last uncivilized tribe on the planet
An Indian police team, studying the possibility of finding the American's body, on Saturday approached 400 m from the beach where John Chau was last seen. Tribal members “see us when we see them,” said Dependra Pathak, a regional police official. The boat then leaves to avoid confrontation.
Additionally, Indian police arrested seven people, including six fishermen, accused of helping the American in his dangerous venture. It was the fisherman who said that the young man was dragged to death along the beach and then buried in the sand.
Fisherman was killed in 2006
According to the NGO Survival International, “Sentinels” are descendants of the first homo sapiens population to leave Africa and have lived in the Andamans for 60,000 years. For other anthropologists, such an ancient existence in this region is unproven, although it is undoubtedly several millennia old.
In recent decades, the tribe has generally attacked anyone who tries to enter their island. In 2006, two Indian fishermen who washed ashore in a boat while sleeping were murdered, then their bodies were hung from bamboo poles overlooking the sea.
Anyone who fishes in the waters of this island, approaches or takes photos of the beach, faces up to 3 years in prison.
