Vidushi Nautiyal, Pune
The Indian Embassy in New York has confirmed the death of another Indian-origin student in the state of Ohio, marking the sixth such occurrence within a month across the United States.
Shreyas Reddy Benigeri was a student at the Lindner School of Business in Cincinnati. In response to the tragedy, the Embassy posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) expressing its condolences and extending support to the family of the deceased.
“Deeply saddened by the unfortunate demise of Mr. Shreyas Reddy Benigeri, a student of Indian origin in Ohio. The Police investigation is underway. At this stage, foul play is not suspected”, said the Consulate General of India, New York. Benigeri’s family in India has been notified, with his father expected to arrive from India soon.
This unfortunate incident comes in the wake of several other tragic events involving Indian students in the United States. Just days prior, Neel Acharya, a student pursuing a double major at Purdue University in Indiana, was found dead on campus after being reported missing. In a separate incident, 25-year-old Indian student Vivek Saini, an MBA graduate, was killed by a homeless man with a hammer in Lithonia, Georgia.
Akul B. Dhawan, an 18-year-old Indian-American student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was found dead last month displaying signs of hypothermia. According to reports, Dhawan went missing in the early hours of January 20 and was found dead nearly 10 hours later on the back porch of a building near the university campus in west Urbana, Illinois.
Additionally, two Indian students, Dinesh and Nikesh, were found dead under suspicious circumstances at their accommodation in Connecticut on January 15th. The families of the deceased are reportedly seeking assistance from the Indian government to initiate an inquiry into the matter.
Last December, Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, informed the Rajya Sabha that close to 403 Indian students studying abroad have died since 2018. The causes of these fatalities include natural causes, accidents, and various medical conditions. According to the minister’s statement, Canada recorded the highest number of deaths with 91 reported cases since 2018, followed by the United Kingdom with 48, Russia with 40, the United States of America (USA) with 36, and Australia with 35.