The 18-year-old Indian-American student in US, who died last month after reportedly going missing for several hours, lost his life due to hypothermia following "acute alcohol intoxication and prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures, which significantly contributed to his death."
Akul Dhawan, a student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the US, was found dead on January 20. His body was found on the back porch of a building near the university campus in west Urbana.
While were signs of hypothermia when his body was found, the exact cause of death was under investigation by the campus police.
Akul Dhawan was out for drinks with friends on the night of January 20 and they had decided to go to the Canopy Club - a venue close to the campus that they had visited a day prior also.
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The staff at the club denied Akul Dhawan entry after which he tried to enter the club "multiple times" but wasn't allowed, Kansas City cited investigators as saying, adding that that Akul also turned down two rideshare vehicles called for him.
Illinois experienced freezing temperatures in January, with wind chills dipping between -20 to -30 degrees.
Multiple calls made to Akul that went unanswered, after which a friend contacted the campus police to search him.
Police said an officer looked for Akul Dhawan by driving "at a walking pace" near the "likely path" he would have taken back to campus but did not see him. The next morning, a university staffer informed cops and emergency medical services of "a man on the back porch of a building".
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Police said that he was "dead at the time he was found".
Akul's parents - Ish and Ritu Dhawan - said their son was found just 400 feet from where he was reported missing based on location-tracking data on their son's phone.
Akul Dhawan, who would have turned 19 this September, came to the University of Illinois' Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to study robotics despite his parent's opposition, a report in The News-Gazette mentioned.
