Another Indian student found dead in same US university where body of Acharya recovered, fifth case this year

Indiana: Amid a series of attacks on Indian students in the United States, a similar case has emerged where a 23-year-old man was found dead at Indiana’s Purdue University on Monday. Notably, this was the fifth such case in the US this year and the second case at the University. The student was identified as Sameer Kamath.

According to The Purdue Exponent— news agency independent of the university serving Purdue students– Kamath was found about 5 p.m. Monday at NICHES land trust, a nature preserve, at Crow’s Grove. A press release from Justin Brummett, the Warren County Coroner, said the forensic autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon (local time) in Crawfordsville.

According to mechanical engineering head Eckhard Groll,  Kamath was from Massachusetts and received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and came to Purdue in the summer of 2021. He graduated from the department with a master’s Degree in mechanical engineering on August 4. As per his LinkedIn profile, the 23-year-old Indian student was slated to graduate from the doctoral program in 2025.

Attacks on Indian students soar in US

It is worth mentioning attacks on Indians, especially on students, have soared tremendously in recent years. In fact, the same was admitted by Jaishankar in the Lok Sabha on Friday. According to the Minister, a total of 403 Indian students have died in foreign countries since 2018 due to various reasons including natural causes, accidents and medical conditions. He told the House that Canada had the highest number of deaths of Indian students at 91, while the United Kingdom followed second with 48 cases.

Neel Acharya was found dead in the same university 

Earlier in December last year, another Indian student, Neel Acharya, was was pursuing a double major at Purdue University in the US state of Indiana found dead days after he went missing.  “Our son Neel Acharya has been missing since yesterday January 28 (12:30 AM EST) He is studying at Purdue University in the US. He was last seen by the Uber driver who dropped him off at Purdue University. We are looking for any info on him. Please help us if you know anything,” his mother Goury Acharya, had posted on X about Neel missing. 

Replying to her post, India’s Consulate General in Chicago, said: “(The) Consulate is in touch with Purdue University authorities and also with Neel’s family. The consulate will extend all possible support and help.”