India has demanded a full investigation into the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, an Indian-origin student who was killed in January of this year after being struck by a police car in Seattle, Washington. This follows claims of a reportedly videotaped police officer making jokes and laughing out loud about the incident.
The Seattle police officer Kevin Dave's patrol car struck and killed Jaahnavi Kandula on January 23.
On Wednesday, the Indian Consulate General in San Francisco stated that "recent reports, including in the media, of the handling of Jaahnavi Kandula's death are deeply troubling".
“We have taken up the matter strongly with local authorities in Seattle & Washington State as well as senior officials in Washington DC .. for a thorough investigation & action against those involved in this tragic case. The Consulate & Embassy will continue to closely follow up on this matter with all concerned authorities,” the Indian Consulate wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
On January 23, a patrol cruiser driven by Seattle police officer Kevin Dave hit and killed a graduate student, age 23, who was in the vehicle. Dave was allegedly travelling at 74 mph (119 kmph), which is when the student's body was reportedly thrown more than 100 feet (30 metres) away.
After the Seattle Police Department on Monday disclosed video from accused officer Daniel Auderer's body camera, there was a huge uproar. In the video, Auderer, the vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, is heard discussing the accident during a call with Mike Solan, the guild's president.
Then he can be heard saying, "She's dead," before laughing out loud.
Auderer can be heard stating, “Yeah, just write a cheque. Eleven thousand dollars. She was 26 anyway…She had limited value,” towards the end of the clip, as per the news agency ANI.
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