A 24-year-old American YouTuber (sigh) was arrested and detained in custody after visiting an off-limits island in the Indian Ocean with hopes of establishing contact with a reclusive tribe known for killing trespassers. He further left a can of Diet Coke and a coconut as offering for the tribe, which he ultimately failed to meet.
Mykhailo Polyakov, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested two days after he set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel Island in a bid to meet people from the reclusive Sentinelese tribe. He shot a video of the island on his camera and collected some sand samples before returning to his boat.
“It may be claimed to be an adventure trip, but the fact is that there has been a violation of Indian laws. Outsiders meeting Sentinelese could endanger the tribe’s survival,” said a senior police officer.
Polyakov is suspected of violating Indian laws that carry a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine.
Visitors are banned from travelling within five kilometres of North Sentinel Island, whose population has been isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years. The inhabitants use spears and bows and arrows to hunt the animals that roam the small, heavily forested island. Deeply suspicious of outsiders, they attack anyone who lands onto their beaches.
In 2018, an American missionary who landed illegally on the beach was killed by North Sentinelese Islanders who apparently shot him with arrows and then buried his body on the beach. In 2006, the Sentinelese had killed two fishermen who had accidentally landed on the shore.
Police said Polyakov had conducted detailed research on sea conditions, tides and accessibility to the island before starting his journey. He stayed on the beach for about an hour, blowing a whistle to attract the attention but got no response from the islanders.
On his return he was spotted by local fishermen, who informed the authorities and Polyakov was arrested in Port Blair, the capital of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, an archipelago nearly 1,207 km. east of India’s mainland.
Polyakov will appear before a local court in Port Blair on April 29.
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