![An aerial view of the damaged coast of Indira Point, India's southern most point, 600 km (about 375 miles) south of [Port Blair], in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago March 1, 2005. (photo credit: REUTERS)](https://images.jpost.1eye.us/image/upload/q_auto/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/658034 "An aerial view of the damaged coast of Indira Point, India's southern most point, 600 km (about 375 miles) south of [Port Blair], in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago March 1, 2005.")
An American tourist traveled to a restricted location to deliver Diet Coke and a coconut to an uncontacted tribe and was subsequently arrested by Indian authorities last week, according to international media reports.
"The American citizen was presented before the local court after his arrest and is now on a three-day remand for further interrogation," Andaman and Nicobar Islands police chief HGS Dhaliwal told AFP.
"He landed briefly for about five minutes, left the offerings on the shore, collected sand samples, and recorded a video before returning to his boat," Dhaliwal said. "A review of his GoPro camera footage showed his entry and landing into the restricted North Sentinel Island.”
Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, made the journey despite the tribe killing another unwanted visitor seven years prior in India's Andaman Islands.
The Sentinelese people, who have never been contacted by the outside world and live without the comforts of contemporary society, are believed to number only 150, and significant efforts have been put in place to protect them and their way of life.
It is forbidden by law to enter within three miles of the tribe’s location, preserving the group from outside influences and protecting them from diseases unknown to their immune systems.
The danger of contacting the tribe
In addition to protecting the tribe, the boundary also protects outsiders who would otherwise be killed by the group. John Allen Chau, a 27-year-old American missionary, was killed in 2018. His body was not recovered.
Despite the tribe’s deadly history, Polyakov’s recent visit to the island was not his only attempt. In 2024, he used an inflatable boat with a motor in an attempt to sail the 22 miles to reach the tribe, CBS News reported.
"It beggars belief that someone could be that reckless and idiotic," Carolina Pearce, the director of the charity Survival International, said. "This person's actions not only endangered his own life, they put the lives of the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk. It's very well known by now that uncontacted peoples have no immunity to common outside diseases like flu or measles, which could completely wipe them out."