Romanian man detained over racially motivated attack on foreign delivery worker in Bucharest

A foreign food delivery worker was attacked in Bucharest by a 20-year-old man who struck him in the face while shouting that he was an “invader” and demanding he return to his country. The case drew wide public attention after former police officer Marian Godină shared a video of the incident on Facebook (see below).

The incident, which took place on the evening of August 26 in Bucharest's District 2, was filmed by the attacker himself but ended when an off-duty police officer stepped in and restrained him. A judge has since ordered the suspect’s pre-trial detention for 30 days.

The victim sustained minor injuries requiring up to two days of medical care, according to the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the District 2 Court. Biziday.ro reported that the man attacked was a citizen of Bangladesh, but Marian Godină said he is from Nepal.

Prosecutors said the assault was racially motivated, noting the suspect acted with the intent of forcing the victim to leave Romania.

Bucharest Police confirmed the intervention of the officer, who belongs to the city’s 7th Precinct and happened to witness the attack, as reported by News.ro.

“The officer intervened promptly and efficiently. The suspect, who tried to flee, was immediately caught and restrained,” police said in a statement, adding that uniformed colleagues later arrived to assist. Authorities praised the intervention as an example of “civic spirit and professionalism.”

The assault comes against a backdrop of heightened anti-immigrant rhetoric in Romanian politics. Just days earlier, AUR vice president Dan Tanasă wrote on Facebook that Romanians should refuse food deliveries handled by workers from Africa or Asia. The post was denounced by civil society groups, and Godină said he had filed a criminal complaint accusing Tanasă of inciting discrimination.

In response to the incident, Tanasă rejected claims that his posts may have encouraged the attack. In a new statement, he accused media of exaggerating his influence, saying: “I am glad to see that, for some journalists, Dan Tanasă is such a powerful force that he could instantly generate incidents on the streets of Bucharest. If I had that power, I would use it to build hospitals in every city, highways across the Carpathians, and decent salaries for Romanians.”