Racism rife in St. Petersburg

An Indian student was stabbed to death on Sunday night in the fourth racist murder in St. Petersburg this year. Indian students rallied outside the St. Petersburg Prosecutors Office on Monday, commemorating Nitesh Kumar Singh, the sixth-year student at the Mechnikov Academy.

As much as 200 foreign students came to Isaacs Square to demand justice for the murderers of Kumar Singh. Members of the patriotic Nashi movement joined the protestors. They blamed Against Illegal Immigration Movement for the crime and demanded that any nationalism-tainted organizations be banned.

St. Petersburg Deputy Prosecutor Andrey Lavrenko promised the rally that the crime would be solved soon.

Nitesh Kumar Singh from the Mechnikov Medical Academy died Sunday night after he was stabbed in the chest. He was attacked while approaching the entrance of his dormitory in central St. Petersburg. Singh managed to enter the building and call for help before he died. An ambulance car arrived too late, and the doctors did little to help the Indian. A probe into this accident has also been launched.

Prosecutors are investigating the murder as motivated by hooliganism or extremism.

Mechnikov Medical Academy declared Monday the day of mourning.