Indian students’ death in the US: At least 10 cases this year so far

25-year-old Mohammed Abdul Arfath, an Indian student who went missing last month, was found dead in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday. Hailing from Nacharam, Hyderabad, Arfath was pursuing a Masters in IT from Cleveland University.

His death adds to a string of incidents involving Indian or Indian-origin students in the US. In 2024, at least 10 such cases have come to light so far.

These deaths underscore the broader challenges faced by Indian students studying in the US, with numerous reports highlighting the alarming frequency of such incidents.

Here’s are the circumstances under which these Indian students lost their lives in the US this year:

🔴 On January 15, two Indian students – G Dinesh (22) from Wanaparthy in Telangana and Nikesh (21) from Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh – were found dead in their Connecticut accommodation in the United States.

Both the students had gone to Hartford, Connecticut in the US for higher studies. The causes of their deaths still remains unknown.

🔴 Vivek Saini, a 25-year-old Indian student was hammered to death by a homeless drug addict in Georgia, United States on January 29. Saini had earned his MBA degree just a few days before his death.

The horrifying incident was caught on camera when assailant Julian Faulkner mercilessly struck Saini nearly 50 times on the head with a hammer.

🔴 Akul B Dhawan, an 18-year-old Indian-American student, was found dead with signs of hypothermia on the back porch of a building near the University of Illinois in the United States.

The student at the university 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. He was a student of Purdue University in the United States.

🔴 Just days after Acharya’s death, on February 5, Sameer Kamath, a 23-year-old Indian doctoral student at Purdue University in Indiana was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a nature preserve in Williamsport.

According to a report in The Indian Express, Kamath had completed his Masters from the Mechanical Engineering Department in August 2023.

🔴 Shreyas Reddy Benigeri, an Indian-origin student, was found dead in Ohio, United States on February 1. He was a student, pursuing a graduate degree in Business Statistics, at the Lindner School of Business, Cincinnati.

According to the Consulate General of India’s statement on Thursday, no foul play was suspected.

🔴 Abhijeeth Paruchuru, another Indian student passed away in Boston. According to the Consulate General of India in New York, no foul play was involved in his death.

🔴 In the beginning of March, Amarnath Ghosh, a 34-year-old trained classical dancer from India and a student of Washington University, was shot dead in St Louis, Missouri. Ghosh was a performing artist, choreographer and art educator from Chennai, who was pursuing his Master’s in the Performing Arts Department of Washington University.

Responding to the news of his death, the Indian embassy in Chicago said that they had taken up the matter with the police and authorities to investigate the “reprehensible gun attack.”

🔴 Another Indian student, Uma Satya Sai Gadde in the US state of Ohio died on April 5, the latest in the string of tragedies. According to the India’s Consulate in New York, the police are investigating the case.

🔴 Not just students, but a 41-year-old Indian-origin executive, Vivek Taneja, also died in the United States on February 7, days after being assaulted during an altercation outside a restaurant in downtown Washington.

Taneja was the Co-Founder and President of Dynamo Technologies.

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