String of deaths among Indian students in US raises alarm across community

The death of Uma Satya Sai Gadde was reported by the Indian Consulate on Friday

An Indian student has died in Cleveland, Ohio - the latest in a string of deaths among students visiting from the country, and the Indian-American community, this year.

The death of Uma Satya Sai Gadde was reported by the Indian Consulate in New York on Friday.

In a statement posted on X/Twitter, the consulate wrote: “Deeply saddened by the unfortunate demise of Mr Uma Satya Sai Gadde, an Indian student in Cleveland, Ohio.”

The consulate said it had contacted Mr Gadde’s family in India and that police are investigating. The Independent has contacted the Cleveland Police for comment.

“All possible assistance is being extended including to transport Mr Uma Gadde’s mortal remains to India at the earliest,” the consulate added.

Classical dancer Amarnath Ghosh, 34, was shot and killed in St Louis, Missouri in February (Washington University in St Louis)

The student is the latest suspicious fatality this year from the Indian community, with the number of deaths estimated at between six and ten people.

Some Indian students have linked the deaths to increased threats and discrimination. The Indian Embassy held virtual sessions in February for students on wellbeing and how to remain in touch with the diaspora, meetings that took on new meaning following the deaths, according to NDTV. Students from 90 universities took part in the session led by Ambassador Sripriya Ranganathan and attended by consul generals in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.

The Independent has contacted the Indian Embassy in Washington DC and the US State Department for comment.

There are around 4.4 million Indian-Americans, and 268,923 Indian students came to the US for the 2022-2023 academic year. Several thousands more people come from India to the US on work visas.

In March, classical dancer Amarnath Ghosh, 34, was shot and killed in St Louis, Missouri. The homicide investigation led by the St Louis Metropolitan Police Department is ongoing.

IT executive Vivek Taneja, 41, of Alexandria, Virginia, died from his injuries days after being struck in the head outside a restaurant on 2 February, according to Washington DC Metropolitan Police. Charges are pending against an unidentified suspect.

At least four other Indian students have died in the US in the first few months of this year.

Vivek Saini, 25, was killed at a convenience store in Georgia where he worked after he allegedly refused to give free food to a homeless man, NDTV reported.

Shreya Reddy Beniger, 19, who was studying at the Lindner School of Business in Ohio, was found dead in February. “Police investigation is underway. At this stage, foul play is not suspected,” the Indian consulate in New York wrote on X on 1 February.

Student Neel Acharya,19, was found dead on the campus of Purdue University on 28 January in West Lafayette, Illinois. The coroner found the cause of death to be asphyxia, with cold exposure and ethanol intoxication contributing, according to WTHR.

Indian-American student Akul Dhawan, 18, was found dead at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign after going missing on 20 January. He died of hypothermia, the Champaign County Coroner said.

Indian student Jaswant Singh told India.com that in the past couple of years in the US, there has been growing racism against Indians.

“Somehow there is a lot of prejudice against Indians, as ... the local people here think that we are taking their jobs and they don't sometimes like our culture, and there's a lot of stress that the students are facing,” he said.

“One of my close friends is not able to talk to his parents because he's scared to tell them the ordeal that he's facing here right now. So the situation is pretty bad for the International Indian students here,” he added.