St Petersburg (Russia): A group of attackers stabbed an Indian medical student to death in St. Petersburg, the city prosecutor's office said on Monday.
The sixth-year student from the St Petersburg Mechnikov Medical Academy died on Sunday night after he was stabbed seven times in the chest, said Yelena Ordynskaya, spokeswoman for the prosecutor.
Nassor Ali, spokesman for the African Unity group, which represents foreign students in the city, said that Nitesh Kumar Singh had been attacked near the dormitory where he lived.
''We are afraid the murder was committed on the grounds of national hatred. There have been similar attacks near that dormitory before, but never with such tragic consequences,'' Ali said, adding that Singh had been alone.
At least six foreigners have been targeted in racially motivated slayings in St Petersburg over the past year, Ali said.
''Our organisation wants to protest this situation, when national minorities suffer such attacks,'' he said.
Ordynskaya said prosecutors had opened a murder investigation but had not yet determined possible motives.
Russia has seen a marked rise in hate crimes in recent years, which rights groups say is fueled in part by the authorities' reluctance to crack down on hate crimes and tackle growing nationalism.
Prosecutions are rare, with many hate crimes treated as hooliganism, an offense that brings only short sentences.
Last year alone, 31 murders and 382 assaults were race-connected, according to the Moscow-based Sova human rights center.
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