Friday, February 08, 2008

The Times of India sounds alarm bells for Indian students in America

A Kentucky story from a foreign perspective - these from the Times of India:

Indian student found dead in Kentucky house

BANGALORE: A student from Bangalore was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his apartment in Kentucky, US, raising questions about the safety of Indian students in America.

In the earlier incidents, 29-year-old Abhijeet Mahato of Jharkhand, a PhD student at North Carolina's Dukes Pratt School of Engineering, was shot dead at an off-campus apartment complex on January 18; on Dec. 13, 2007, two Louisiana State University research students from Andhra Pradesh, Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam, were shot dead in a flat near their campus.

On Thursday, 20-year-old Mahesh Subramannian's body was received by his family at the Bangalore airport 18 days after his death. He was the only son of P Subramannian and Sharavathi, who reside near Jakkur Aerodrome on Bellary Road. He was cremated at Hebbal crematorium on Thursday noon.

Student of Northern Kentucky University, Mahesh was pursuing his Bachelor in Science with electronics, electrical science and computer science as the major subjects. He was in his final semester and was staying at the Hidden Valley Apartment complex in Campbell County in Kentucky with Sunny, an American student, who was studying MS in the same university.

The death of Mahesh was conveyed to his parents in Bangalore only on January 21. Mahesh's uncle who stays in US was the first one to be informed about the death by the university authorities.

The preliminary post-mortem reports of Mahesh say the reason for the death is ‘unknown'. The family members have been asked to wait for six weeks for the final autopsy report.

"The autospy results are pending in relation to the cause of death," stated a letter submitted by Bryan Avance of Avance funeral home and crematory in Ohio.

"We are kept in the dark. There has never been a proper communication from the US authorities regarding my son's death. Moreover, the contradictory statements from university, hospital and relatives are puzzling us, and we suspect that Mahesh could have been murdered," mother Sharavathi told The Times of India. The family has gone through a lot of anxiety, ever since they learnt about the incident. "We are waiting for the post-mortem report, after which we will register a case with the police," she added.

Murder shocks Indian students in US

NEW YORK: The killing of an Indian doctoral student at Duke University in North Carolina - the third such incident involving Indian students in a US campus in two months - has shocked the estimated 80,000 Indians students studying in this country. It left a pall of gloom on the campus even where authorities beefed up security and reiterated that robbery appeared to be the motive for Abhijeet Mahato's murder. The 29-year-old IIT Kanpur alumnus was shot dead on Friday at his apartment in Durham, outside the university campus....

US: Still a dream destination for Indians?

For decades, the US has been the dream destination for all starry-eyed Indians. From not-so-well-educated job seekers to Silicon Valley aspirants, everybody longed to land on American soil and make it big there. But the rosy pictures of hotel baron Sant Chatwal having cocktails with the Clintons have been replaced, of late, by repeated instances of so-called ‘hate crimes’ against Indians in general and Sikhs in particular. The recent mysterious deaths of Indian students in Louisiana and Kentucky and incidents of Sikhs being mistreated have set alarm bells ringing. ...

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