Attack on Indians in Nitra prosecuted as hate crime. Police investigated it as a misdemeanor for nine days

The district prosecutor in Nitra has initiated criminal proceedings for assault committed with a specific motive of hatred based on race or nationality, and for the offense of rioting. It concerns an attack by masked men on four young Indians on Wilson Embankment, after which 35-year-old English teacher Ansar Thayyib ended up on an operating table with a broken cheekbone, broken jaw, and a damaged eye. However, police investigated this same act as a misdemeanor against public coexistence for nine days. TASR ↗

Nine days as a misdemeanor

A group of men approached four Indians on the night of Friday, July 31, to Saturday, August 1, on Wilson Embankment near the center of Nitra. They put on hoods, asked in English where they were from, and after hearing the answer began beating them. "They asked us in English where we were from. We said from India, and right after that they started beating us," Thayyib described it to STVR. STVR ↗

Police initially recorded the act at the Nitra-West district office as a misdemeanor against public coexistence. For such a misdemeanor, according to § 49 of the Misdemeanors Act, a fine from 100 to 1,500 euros can be imposed depending on the specific facts of the case. The crime referred to in the new classification is, according to § 11 of the Criminal Code, an intentional criminal act with an upper limit of the sentence exceeding five years in prison. The first classification thus pointed to a fine in administrative proceedings, the second to criminal prosecution. Pravda ↗

The reclassification occurred after the victims filed a criminal complaint with the District Prosecutor's Office in Nitra and the case received media attention. It was taken over by the criminal police department of the regional directorate. Police have not yet charged anyone. Hospodárske noviny ↗

Not the first attack on the same embankment

Wilson Embankment appears repeatedly in this context. Shortly before the attack on the Indians, a masked group attacked teenagers from Ukraine there. Ivona Fraňová, who runs a contact point for foreigners in Nitra, said that the situation in the city is deteriorating day by day. Denník N ↗

According to former criminalist Peter Chudý, the attackers are not targeting a specific nationality. "Perpetrators don't care which country their future victim is from. What matters is that they have a different skin color," he told Pravda. At the same time, he warned that if similar cases are treated as misdemeanors, it could encourage perpetrators to commit further acts. Pravda ↗

City with 18,000 foreigners

According to STVR, approximately 18,000 foreigners live in Nitra, of which about 550 are Indians. Most of them work in the local industrial park; Thayyib came to teach at the university. The city council is responding by gradually strengthening the municipal police. "Currently, the Municipal Police in Nitra has 60 officers in direct service. We are trying to increase that number by approximately eight," said its chief Erik Duchoň. The city is also considering establishing another district. STVR ↗

Nitra's numbers are a snapshot of a larger change. In February 2026, over ten thousand Indians worked in Slovakia, making it the second largest group of foreign workers after Ukrainians and more than Czechs, Romanians, or Hungarians. Ten years ago, there were fewer than one hundred forty of them here. Pravda ↗

Appeal read in churches

The university, city council, and church condemned the attack. Rector of Constantine the Philosopher University František Petrovič and Mayor of Nitra Marek Hattas called it cowardice and unacceptable violence in a joint statement. TASR ↗

On Sunday, priests in churches of the Nitra diocese read an appeal by Bishop Viliam Judák. "He calls on everyone, whether believers or people of good will, to act with the principles of Christian love," clarified Tibor Ujlacký, spokesman of the Nitra Bishopric. STVR ↗

In the text, Judák directly connected the attack to the city. "Even in our city, which takes pride in the epithet 'cradle of Christianity', we are witnesses to such unfortunate events," he wrote and added that every person has equal dignity regardless of their origin and religion. He called discrimination and violence a profound contradiction to the Gospel commandment of love for one's neighbor. TKKBS ↗

Political reactions: condemnation and more cautious wording

Among constitutional officials, President Peter Pellegrini condemned the attack, speaking of racial hatred, as did Parliament Speaker Richard Raši. Postoj ↗

The opposition KDH demanded expedited investigation of the incident from police. TASR ↗

However, SME commentator Peter Tkačenko pointed out the wording with which part of the coalition approached the matter. A statement from Hlas condemning "violence against people regardless of their origin or nationality" he called a diluted version of the slogan "white lives matter," which rather trivializes racially motivated violence. This is a commentary opinion, not an investigation finding. SME ↗

Thayyib himself is not leaving Nitra. He told Denník N that he considers the city his home and that thousands of people expressed their support after the attack. Organizers of the Rozhybkosti folklore festival in Eastern Slovakia, where he was a guest this year, assured him that he will always be welcome there. Denník N ↗

What hotinfo is tracking

Whether police identify suspects and charge anyone. Ten days have passed since the night of the attack.

Whether the prosecutor maintains the hate crime classification through the indictment, or mitigates it during the investigation.

Whether Nitra actually adds eight municipal police officers and establishes the announced new district, or whether it remains just a statement.

Whether announced measures will reduce risk on Wilson Embankment. There were two attacks on foreigners there within a few weeks.

How many attacks with a similar motive in Slovakia end as a misdemeanor. In this case, this difference meant the matter moved from a district office to the criminal police.