New Delhi: The Indian Consulate in New York late Friday night announced that a police investigation is underway into the death of an Indian student who was studying in Cleveland, Ohio.
While offering condolences to the grieving family of Uma Satya Sai Gadde, the consulate said all available assistance is being extended to the family of the deceased to ensure the prompt transportation of his body to India.
“Deeply saddened by the unfortunate demise of Mr. Uma Satya Sai Gadde, an Indian student in Cleveland, Ohio. Police investigation is underway.
“@IndiainNewYork continues to remain in touch with the family in India,” the Indian Consulate wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Deeply saddened by the unfortunate demise of Mr. Uma Satya Sai Gadde, an Indian student in Cleveland, Ohio.
Police investigation is underway. @IndiainNewYork continues to remain in touch with the family in India.
All possible assistance is being extended including to transport…
— India in New York (@IndiainNewYork) April 5, 2024
The news of Gadde’s demise, however, has added to concerns about the safety of Indian and Indian-origin students in the US. Since the beginning of this year, there have been at least 10 incidents including deaths and attacks involving Indian or Indian-origin students in the US. Most of these students were aged 25 or less.
According to an Open Doors Report (ODR) published in 2023, the influx of international students from India to the United States surged by 35 percent, reaching a record high of 268,923 students, during the academic year 2022-23. More than 25 percent of the over one million foreign students studying in the United States are Indians.
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Incidents involving Indian students
On 16 January, Vivek Saini, a 25-year-old Indian graduate student, was reportedly fatally assaulted at the store where he was employed in Lithonia, Georgia. CCTV footage of the incident showed how he was struck with a hammer multiple times allegedly by a homeless drug addict.
In February, an Indian student from Hyderabad, Syed Mazahir Ali, was brutally attacked in Chicago. The video of him bleeding was doing the rounds on social media.
Later that month, Ruthvik Karan from Secunderabad reportedly died of a brain stroke in his apartment in the US.
And in March, Amarnath Ghosh, a 34-year-old trained classical dancer and student at Washington University, was fatally shot in St. Louis, Missouri. Ghosh, who specialised in Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam dance forms, migrated to the US from West Bengal last year to pursue his passion for dance.
Against this backdrop, on February 22, officials from the Indian Embassy and its consulates had conducted a virtual session with Indian students from all over the US, addressing different facets of student welfare and methods to maintain ties with the broader diaspora. Approximately 150 Indian Student Association representatives and students from 90 universities across the US took part in the session. It was led by Charge d’Affaires Ambassador Sripriya Ranganathan in the presence of Consul Generals of India stationed in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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