Tanzanian Internet sensation, Kili Paul who is extremely popular in India for his videos showing him lip-syncing and dancing to Hindi film songs with his sister, Neema, was attacked. He was injured with a knife and beaten with sticks by unidentified individuals.
Paul shared a video on his Instagram stories showing him on a stretcher with bandage on his thumb and injury marks on the legs.
Talking about the attack he said on Instagram: “I was attacked by 5 people in the movement of defending myself my right-hand toe was injured by a knife and I got 5 stitches and I was beaten by sticks and clubs but thank god I defend myself after beating two people they run away but I was already injured pray for me (sic). This is scary.”
This sensational artist first came to limelight when his lip-sync video on the song "Raatan Lambiyan" from Siddharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani-starrer "Shershaah" with sister Neena Paul went viral on social media. Following that, he posted a number of videos of his lip-syncing to popular songs from Hindi movies.
Paul has more than 3.6 million followers on Instagram.
Even though he has never been to India, he told Hindustan Times that he grew up watching a lot of Hindi films. “I’ve never been to India, but in my imagination, I’ve been there for a long time. I was there when Mumbai used to be Bombay. I was there when Sanjay Dutt and Akshay Kumar were trending and doing a lot of mind-blowing films. They always bring me back old memories.”
He added that Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan and Tiger Shroff are his favourite Indian actors because he loves “watching action films."
Recently, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi mentioned Paul in his February edition of Mann Ki Baat and referring to his work along with his sister, exhorted youngsters to make videos of famous Indian songs in different languages. The PM added that this will not only make them popular but also showcase the country's diversity to the new generation. The artist thanked Modi and said he is "mind blown".
Binaya Pradhan Indian High Commission in Tanzania had honoured Kili in February.
