New Delhi – Delhi Police have arrested Ruby Jain and her husband Harsh Singh in connection with the shocking racial abuse of three young women from Arunachal Pradesh in South Delhi’s Malviya Nagar. The arrests came on February 25, following a viral video that ignited massive public anger across the country, particularly in the Northeast, and prompted swift intervention by senior leaders including Union Minister Kiren Rijiju.
Ruby Jain, identified as the primary accused in the video, was taken into custody from her residence in Malviya Nagar. Her husband Harsh Singh was also arrested shortly after. The case, now being investigated by an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP)-rank officer and closely monitored by senior officials, has seen the invocation of provisions under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in addition to sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The incident took place on February 20, 2026, around 3:30 pm. The three women, one of whom is preparing for the UPSC civil services examination were getting an air conditioner installed in their rented fourth-floor flat in Malviya Nagar. During the drilling work, some dust and debris fell onto the floor below, where Harsh Singh and Ruby Jain live.
What began as a complaint about the mess quickly escalated into verbal abuse and deeply offensive racial slurs. In the video that later went viral, Ruby Jain is heard calling the women “momo sellers”, “₹500 massage parlour wali dhandhewali” (sex workers), “gutter-chhap” (gutter trash), and telling them to “go back to your state”. Harsh Singh allegedly joined in, using similar derogatory language and declaring that “Northeast people are shit”. The women, who repeatedly apologised for the dust, alleged that the couple continued the intimidation even in the presence of a police officer who had arrived at the spot.
The victims lodged a complaint at Malviya Nagar Police Station, leading to an FIR under BNS Sections 79 (insulting the modesty of a woman), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 3(5) (common intention), and 196 (promoting enmity on grounds of race, place of birth, etc.). The SC/ST Act provisions were added later based on the nature of the slurs targeting the women’s ethnic identity.
Within hours of the video surfacing on February 22-23, social media platforms exploded with outrage. Hashtags like #StopRacismAgainstNortheast, #JusticeForArunachalWomen, and #DelhiDarindeCouple trended nationally. Thousands of users from Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Sikkim shared stories of similar everyday discrimination they face in metros. Northeast student organisations, resident welfare associations in Delhi, and influencers condemned the incident as yet another example of deep-rooted prejudice against people from the region, often stereotyped as “chinky”, “foreign-looking”, or associated with food and massage parlours.
The backlash was so intense that Harsh Singh and Ruby Jain became national headlines overnight. Trolls flooded their social media (wherever traceable) with memes and criticism, dubbing them the “Delhi darinde couple”.
In an interview with ANI on February 24, Harsh Singh expressed regret, saying the couple was “ashamed” of their words. “Humein Delhi ke darinde couple mat banaiye… Ghalti ke liye sharminda hain. Humse dobara suna bhi nahi ja raha jo humne kaha. Yeh heat of the moment mein ho gaya,” he said.
He appealed to netizens: “We don’t deserve to be painted like this. Neither is our thinking like this, nor was there any intention. But in the heat and anger, it happened.” He extended an apology to the people of the Northeast and said he had full faith in Delhi Police and the Indian judiciary. “Let the police investigate fairly. Whatever punishment the court gives, we will accept it happily.”
Meanwhile, Ruby Jain had her excuses and sought to issue a public apology. She said she had no intention of using those words, but they were uttered in the heat of the moment. Ruby told India Today that she and her husband did not initiate the tussle with the northeastern women. Rather, they reacted to the abuse they were subjected to. "The entire fiasco went on for one-and-a-half hours. But the viral video is four minutes long. They first came to our floor and abused us. However, that was not recorded. But, when we went to their floor and spoke to them, they recorded that part," she added.
The incident united leaders across the Northeast and drew sharp responses from the Centre. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju personally monitored the case from the beginning. “If our Northeast is targeted, action will be taken,” he declared. Speaking to the media, Rijiju said his office had been in constant touch with the victims and Delhi Police since day one. “I have been following up personally, and arrests have been made. We will take strict legal action and teach a lesson that people from the Northeast should not be treated badly.” He assured that the Centre would ensure justice and that such behaviour would not be tolerated anywhere in the country.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu strongly condemned the “shameful incident”, calling it “absolutely unacceptable and with no place in our society”. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma described the incident as “very unfortunate” and stressed that discrimination against Northeast people “must stop”. “Without showing respect and giving dignity to others, there is no way our country can progress,” he said. Sangma called for greater awareness, sensitivity, and cultural exchange programmes between the Northeast and mainland India to bridge the divide.
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta met the NE women and assured them all support on behalf of the Delhi government. In a post, Gupta said, " I strongly condemn this incident involving our sisters from the Northeast and stand firmly with them. Delhi belongs to everyone. The dignity, respect, and safety of every citizen here are paramount. The police are taking legal action responsibly, and we will ensure that the strictest possible action is taken against the culprits. Harassment, discrimination, or humiliation of any daughter will not be tolerated at any cost. We are all one, and the safety of every daughter is our utmost responsibility."
On meeting with people from the northeast, BJP MLA from Malviya Nagar, Satish Upadhyay, stated, " Such incidents of discrimination have no place in Delhi, and we will not tolerate them in any way. These incidents are completely aimed at dividing the country, and we stand completely with the victims. We will not allow any injustice to happen to our brothers and sisters from the Northeast, or to the students from the Northeast, in Delhi, and we will not tolerate it..."
This incident has once again forced the nation to confront an uncomfortable truth: despite decades of integration, people from the Northeast with their distinct features, cultures, and cuisines , continue to face casual racism, stereotyping, and exclusion in many parts of “mainland” India. From being called “Chinese” or “foreigners” to assumptions about their professions, the prejudice runs deep.
The Nido Taniam case is one of the most high-profile and tragic incidents of racial discrimination and violence against a person from India’s Northeast. It took place on 29 January 2014 at Lajpat Nagar, South Delhi
20-year-old Nido Taniam was a student at Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar. He was the son of Arunachal Pradesh Congress legislator Nido Pavitra. Nido Taniam had gone to Lajpat Nagar market with three friends to find an address. At a sweet shop, the shopkeepers allegedly started mocking his hairstyle and his “Northeast/Chinese-looking” ethnic features. When Nido objected and resisted the racist taunts, he was brutally beaten by two shopkeepers Farman (22) and Akram (27) who run the Rajasthan Paneer Shop in the area. He suffered severe internal injuries to his lungs and brain and was declared dead shortly after. The attack was widely seen as a hate crime driven by racial prejudice against people from the Northeast.
The incident sparked massive protests across Delhi and the entire Northeast. Students, activists, and Northeast communities blocked roads and demanded justice. Delhi Police registered a murder case and arrested the two accused. The initial post-mortem report was inconclusive (“no much injury or aberration”), so tissue samples were preserved for further forensic examination.
The Nido Taniam case became a national symbol of the everyday racism, stereotyping, and physical violence faced by Northeast Indians in mainland cities, especially Delhi. It forced the country to acknowledge “racial profiling” and “Northeast bashing” as a serious social issue.
In direct response to the nationwide outrage after Nido Taniam’s murder, the Ministry of Home Affairs constituted a high-level committee in February 2014 called the Bezbaruah Committee. It's Chairperson was M.P. Bezbaruah (retired IAS officer from Assam).
Mandate of the Committee:
To examine the concerns and problems faced by people from the Northeastern states living in other parts of India, especially in metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, etc.
To suggest measures for safety, security, and better integration of Northeast citizens.
To recommend legal and administrative steps to prevent racial discrimination and hate crimes against them.
Key Outcomes:
The committee submitted its report in July 2014.
It recommended several important steps, including:
Faster registration and investigation of crimes against Northeast people
Special helplines and police sensitization programmes
Inclusion of Northeast history and culture in school curricula
Strict action against racial slurs and stereotypes
Setting up of special cells in police stations
This committee is historically important because it was the first official government recognition at the central level that people from the Northeast face systemic racial discrimination in India.
SPUNER (Special Police Unit for North Eastern Region) was set up by Delhi Police to help people from North East India who came to study and work in Delhi.
In March 2018, some Manipuri and Rajasthani students clashed at Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU). Manipuri Students Association of Vadodara submitted a memorandum to MSU Vice-Chancellor Parimal Vyas, alleging racial abuse and demanding rustication of the accused students. The Rajasthani students termed the allegations 'baseless'. A delegation of Manipuri students had marched to the V-C office demanding action against the perpetrators. Priyanand Sharma, a PhD student of Central University of Gujarat, who led the protest said, “Do we even have to write on our forehead that we are Indians? Only because we have different facial features we are facing racial discrimination.” He added that despite Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh talking to CM Vijay Rupani, the north east students felt insecure.
The Mooknayak reached out to sociologist Rajkumari Ahir who highlights that racial microaggressions against students from the Northeast are deeply systemic and normalized within university spaces. She argues that the constant, "othering" stares in public places create a persistent environment of discomfort, stripping these individuals of their sense of belonging in their own country. To dismantle these deep-seated biases, Ahir emphasizes that mere policy changes are insufficient; instead, there is an urgent need for institutional sensitization programs to bridge the empathy gap and foster genuine inclusivity.
Several Northeast Indians were subjected to racial slurs, especially during the pandemic. A video from Hyderabad went viral where a young Northeast Indian couple was asked to move back in a departmental store because they resemble the Chinese and it was assumed that they might carry the 'coronavirus’.
In another instance, two boys from Manipur working in a hotel were forced to leave their work and were forced to take shelter in the street since they had nowhere to go and did not know anyone, they were robbed of their belongings and a little money that they had before they could be rescued and sent back home with the help of good Samaritans.
In June 2021, at least 40 student organisations from eight universities in northeast India created a ‘Twitter storm’ asking the Central government to mandatorily include a chapter on the history and culture of the region in the NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) syllabus in a bid to fight racism. The online campaign was conceived after a YouTuber named Paras Singh made racist comments against people from the northeast. A case was later filed against him.
The 22-year-old YouTuber from Punjab called former Lok Sabha MP and sitting Congress legislator Ninong Ering from Arunachal Pradesh a “non-Indian” and said Arunachal Pradesh was “part of China”. It sparked furore in Arunachal Pradesh and in other parts of the country. He was arrested in Ludhiana on May 25, 2021 and was brought to Arunachal Pradesh on May 26. Paras was booked under Sections 124A, 153 and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In a research paper published in November 2024, in the Journal of Social and Economic Development, researchers Ajailiu Niumai and M. N. Rajesh carefully recorded the painful everyday experiences of Northeast Indian students and young people living in Hyderabad.
The study, based on detailed interviews and personal stories, shows how Northeast Indians face constant racism and stereotyping simply because of their distinct East Asian-looking features. Many students shared that people in Hyderabad often stare at them, make fun of their looks, and call them names like “Chinky” or “Chinese”. Some said they are regularly asked, “Are you from China or Japan?” or told to “go back to your country”, even though they are Indian citizens born and brought up in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur or other Northeast states. The researchers noted that these small but hurtful acts create a feeling of being treated as outsiders in their own country.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the discrimination became much worse, the paper highlights. Northeast students told the researchers that they were openly blamed for spreading the coronavirus. Many were called “corona” or “virus carrier” on the streets, in markets, and even in their hostels. One student described how a group of people shouted at her, “You people have brought the virus from China!” Another young woman said landlords suddenly asked her and her roommates to leave the house, saying “Northeast people are spreading the infection”. Taxi drivers refused to pick them up, shopkeepers avoided taking money from their hands, and neighbours stopped talking to them. The researchers explained that because of their physical appearance, Northeast Indians were unfairly linked to the virus that started in Wuhan, turning normal fear of the disease into open racial hatred.
The study also points out the deep sense of exclusion these students feel. Even in a modern and cosmopolitan city like Hyderabad, they are not fully accepted as “real Indians”. Many shared that they have to prove their Indian identity again and again , showing Aadhaar cards or speaking Hindi to be believed. The researchers, Ajailiu Niumai and M. N. Rajesh, conclude that this constant “othering” hurts their mental health and sense of belonging. They recommend stronger steps like special police help desks for Northeast people, awareness programmes in colleges, and building stronger community support networks so that young students from the Northeast can live with dignity and safety in cities like Hyderabad.
The latest case in the series of humiliation and racial attack was of Anjel Chakma in December 2025 in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, involving a 24-year-old MBA student from Tripura. On December 9, Anjel and his younger brother were at a market in the Selaqui area when they were allegedly targeted with racial slurs by a group of men. When Anjel protested and asserted his identity as an Indian citizen, reportedly saying, "We are Indians", the confrontation escalated into a violent attack. Anjel was brutally beaten and stabbed, sustaining severe injuries to his head, neck, and spine. After battling for his life for 17 days, he succumbed to his injuries on December 26, 2025.
The incident sparked nationwide outrage and intensified demands for a specific anti-racism law in India. While the Uttarakhand Police initially suggested the clash might have been a spontaneous altercation rather than a planned racial assault, Anjel's family and several Northeast student organizations rejected this claim, calling it a horrific hate crime. Following massive protests and interventions by leaders like Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, five suspects were arrested, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was invoked in the case.
The swift arrests and high-level intervention shown in Angel Chakma and Malviya Nagar cases prove that when public pressure mounts and political will aligns, accountability is possible. But the real test lies in prevention, through school education on India’s diversity, sensitisation drives in metros, stricter enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, and genuine cultural exchange.
"We aren't asking for special treatment; we are simply demanding respect for our identity. What happened at Malviya Nagar is merely a glimpse into a much harsher reality. Our community consistently faces intense hatred and systemic prejudice rooted in our features and dietary habits. It is truly heart-wrenching and cruel to be treated as outsiders in our own country," Priya, a Manipuri student urges.
The Malviya Nagar case may end in court, but the conversation it has sparked must continue not just in newsrooms and on social media, but in homes, offices, and streets across India. Only then can we truly claim to be one nation.
You can also join our WhatsApp group to get premium and selected news of The Mooknayak on WhatsApp. Click here to join the WhatsApp group.