The Government of India on Friday condemned the deaths of Indian students in the United States and said the cases have been appropriately taken up with the authorities in America to seek justice.
At least 10 cases of deaths involving Indian or Indian-origin students in the US have been reported since January this year, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a press briefing in New Delhi on Friday.
“There have been some unfortunate incidents resulting in the death of Indian students in the US. These cases are under investigation. The Embassy and Consulates have extended all possible help,” he said.
“Since January, there have been 10 odd Indian students who have passed away. One was a case of homicide which was registered against a vagrant person. This was the most unfortunate of Vivek Saini. Then, there was a case in which the victim as shot at. So these are the two cases which are being investigated from the point of view of law and order. We are pushing very hard to ensure justice is served,” he said.
Jaiswal went on to say that cases related to law and order “have been appropriately taken up with the US authorities to seek justice.”
Responding to a question on the safety of Indian students in America, the MEA spokesperson said the Indian Embassy in the US and the Indian consulates have strengthened their student outreach “so that they can convey to the students how they should take care of themselves, what should be done and what all help we can provide as and when required.”
On Tuesday, 25-year-old Indian student Mohammed Abdul Arfath, who had been missing since last month, was found dead in Cleveland, Ohio. Hailing from Nacharam, Hyderabad, Arfath was pursuing a Masters in IT from Cleveland University.
On January 15, two Indian students, G Dinesh (22) from Telangana and Wanaparthy Nikesh (21) from Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam, were found dead in their Connecticut accommodation in the US. Both these students had gone to Hartford for higher studies. The causes of their deaths remain unknown.
On January 29, 25-year-old Indian student Vivek Saini was hammered to death by a homeless drug addict in Georgia. Saini had earned his MBA degree just a few days before his death.
In another incident, 18-year-old Indian-American student, Akul B Dhawan, was found dead with signs of hypothermia on the back porch of a building near the University of Illinois. He had gone missing in the early hours of January 20 and was later found dead.
Neel Acharya, a computer science and data science student at Purdue University in Indiana State, who was missing since January 28, was found dead on January 30.
On February 5, 23-year-old Sameer Kamath, a Indian doctoral student at Purdue University in Indiana, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a nature preserve in Williamsport.
On February 1, Shreyas Reddy Benigeri, an Indian-origin student, was found dead in Ohio. He was pursuing a graduate degree in Business Statistics, at the Lindner School of Business, Cincinnati.
Another Indian student Abhijeeth Paruchuru passed away in Boston. According to the Consulate General of India in New York, no foul play was involved in his death.
Amarnath Ghosh, a 34-year-old trained classical dancer from India and a student of Washington University, was shot dead in St Louis, Missouri in the beginning of March. He was a performing artist, choreographer and art educator from Chennai
Responding to the news of Ghosh’s death, the Indian embassy in Chicago said the matter was taken up with the police and authorities to investigate the “reprehensible gun attack.”
Uma Satya Sai Gadde, an Indian student in the US state of Ohio died on April 5.
With inputs from agencies
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