KTR Appeals To US Ambassador, EAM For Justice In Telugu Girl's Death
Jaahnavi went to the USA to pursue her higher education in 2021
Hyderabad: A day after comments by the US police after a police car travelling at 70 mph knocked down AP student Jaahnavi Kandula in the US drew widespread public ire, IT minister K.T. Rama Rao on Thursday asked the US Ambassador in India Eric Garcetti and external affairs minister S. Jaishankar to ensure justice the victim’s family.
Taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Rama Rao said he was deeply disturbed and extremely saddened by the utterly reprehensible and callous comments of police officers.
Rama Rao also requested Jaishankar to take up the matter with his counterpart and demand an independent investigation. “It is tragic that the life of a youngster with soaring ambitions has been cut short but what’s more tragic and shocking is that a limited monetary value has been ascribed to her life,” he said.
The 23-three-year-old student of Adoni in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, died on January 25, 2023, after a Seattle Police car hit her. At the time of the accident, the police officers’ comments — of her life “having a limited value,” of signing a compensation cheque for $11,000 — were recorded on body cameras. The Seattle police released the video recently.
Jaahnavi went to the USA to pursue her higher education in 2021. She was pursuing a master's degree in information systems at the Seattle campus of Northeastern University.