The sudden loss of life of Indian college students throughout American universities within the current previous has left the Indian American group grappling with uncertainty. While one Indian pupil was murdered, one other succumbed to suicide, and a number of other different deaths stay unexplained.

Vivek Saini‘s homicide, Sameer Kamath‘s suicide, Akul Dhawan’s loss of life because of hypothermia and Neel Acharya‘s mysterious demise within the States are a number of names on the listing of deaths of Indian college students within the US.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, within the aftermath of the current deaths, Indian college students learning within the US mentioned they at all times need to be situationally conscious and have felt scared to journey alone.

Kajari Saha, 28, from the University of California, Santa Barbara, informed HT that she felt a “sense of alienation” after learning about the incidents. “You always have to be situationally aware and surround yourself with people who feel safe to you. I live in California, a very liberal state compared to others. However, there is a bit of racial profiling, no matter where you go.”

“Although I’m largely surrounded by mates, I can think about how threatening it should really feel for somebody who lives by themselves and within the neighborhood of the place these incidents occurred,” she informed HT.

Referring to the homicide of Vivek Saini, an MBA pupil in Georgia’s Lithonia, Anukta Datta, 28, additionally from the University of California, Santa Barbara, informed HT that over the previous 12 months, legal incidents, together with hate crime, have grown.

“I first got here throughout the information on X and it shook me to the core. I feel over the previous 12 months, there was a rising variety of crimes, together with some hate crimes, amongst completely different communities and sadly, generally college students are on the receiving finish of it,” she mentioned.

Saini was brutally attacked and killed by a homeless man named Julian Faulkner. The gut-wrenching incident was caught on digicam. Faulkner reportedly hit Saini about 50 instances on the pinnacle with a hammer. The incident occurred on the Chevron Food Mart at Snapfinger and Cleveland Road.

Datta, on being requested by HT whether or not Indian college students within the US have causes to really feel threatened, mentioned that these incidents might be very worrying for Indian college students, largely primarily based on the place they stay and their surrounding group.

“Having lived in Michigan and California during the last six years, I feel that is very subjective. Although Ann Arbor is a really buzzing and slightly secure faculty city within the Midwest, there have been nonetheless events after I felt scared to journey alone. These incidents might be very worrying for Indian college students, largely primarily based on the place they stay and their surrounding group.”

Datta informed HT that Southern California seemed to be a comparatively safer place for her. “However, over the course of the final winter break, we did get some information about sporadic thefts and robberies right here, which did take me aback,” she said, adding that “there is an added concern about security given the not-so-stringent gun control laws in the country.”

In one other incident, Indian pupil Akul Dhawan was discovered lifeless exterior the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in January. His father later criticised the police for inaction. The preliminary findings of the post-mortem steered he died from hypothermia, in keeping with the Champaign County Coroner.

Aritra Basu, 29, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst mentioned these current deaths are horrible and considerably scary. “However, these incidents will not be essentially related by a standard thread, aside from a regularly worsening social local weather.”

He informed HT that he would not actually suppose Indian college students specifically are being focused or are victims of hate crimes on a large scale. “But I do feel threatened when I read reports of increasing gun violence and white supremacist political movements. Increasing socio-economic inequality has spillover effects too.”

Basu added that many worldwide college students face difficulties of various varieties within the US. “I personally know college students in a number of campuses, together with UMass, who’ve been focused inside campus and past for taking part in non-violent and democratic protests towards Israel lately,” he mentioned.

In only a month of 2024, two Indian college students at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, misplaced their lives too. Neel Acharya, a pupil who went lacking for days, was later discovered lifeless on the Purdue campus. An post-mortem revealed that there have been no indicators of trauma on his physique. The trigger and method of loss of life are nonetheless beneath investigation.

Indian-origin doctoral pupil Sameer Kamath, who studied at Purdue University too, was discovered lifeless at a nature protect this week. The 23-year-old reportedly died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the pinnacle.

A pupil at Purdue University expressed his worry, telling HT on situation of anonymity that Neel’s loss of life has heightened his sense of concern about security on campus. “It despatched a wave of disbelief and concern among the many Indian pupil group. Neel’s loss of life, particularly, makes me query the general safety measures and prompts us to contemplate what extra might be carried out to make sure the well-being of scholars.”

The demises of Acharya and Kamath will not be the one ones which have shaken Purdue University. In 2022, a 20-year-old Indian-origin pupil, Varun Manish Chheda, was murdered by his 22-year-old Korean roommate Ji Min ‘Jimmy’ Sha, who was later arrested.

In January this 12 months, two 22-year-old Telugu college students have been discovered lifeless of their room in Hartford city of Connecticut.

Gattu Dinesh from Telangana’s Wanaparthy district, and R Nikesh from Palakonda of Parvathipuram Manyam district, have been discovered lifeless on January 14 after inhaling carbon monoxide emitted by a room heater.

Jaahnavi Kandula, who misplaced her life final 12 months after being hit by a police cruiser can also be amongst different current deaths of Indian college students within the US. A Seattle PD union chief was later heard on physique digicam footage saying her life had “restricted worth” and the city should “write a check.”