US: Indian Student Sameer Kamath Found Dead At Park, 5th Death This Year

A 23-year-old Indian-origin doctoral student at Purdue University, Sameer Kamath, was found dead in the woods at Crow’s Grove Nature Preserve on Monday evening. Kamath's death is the university's second death of an Indian student and the fourth in the United States this year.

According to Warren County Coroner Justin Brummett, Kamath's body was discovered around 5 p.m. local time. Kamath, who held US citizenship, had completed his master's degree in Mechanical Engineering in August 2023 and was set to graduate from his doctoral program in 2025.

The circumstances surrounding Kamath's death are currently under investigation by the Warren County Coroner’s Office and the local sheriff's office. An autopsy was scheduled to take place on Tuesday afternoon in Crawfordsville to determine the cause of death.

Sameer 5th Indian Student To Die In A Month, Who Are The Others

Shreyas Reddy: Last week, 19-year-old Indian-origin Shreyas Reddy was found dead in Ohio. Authorities ruled out foul play or a hate crime. 

Shreyas Reddy was a student at the Lindner School of Business in Cincinnati, according to the Consulate General of India in New York. Reddy's family, residing in India, was informed of the tragedy.

Neel Acharya: The death of Shreyas Reddy Benigeri comes days after Neel Acharya, an Indian-origin student pursuing a double major at the prestigious Purdue University, was found dead near the varsity airport.

Acharya's body was found on Sunday, January 28, after police were called to investigate an unmoving body near the airport.

Acharya's death remains mysterious even after the autopsy, which found no trauma on his body. Officials said that foul play is not suspected in the death, adding that his preliminary cause of death and manner of death are pending toxicology results, which can take up to six weeks to get back from the lab.

Vivek Saini: Vivek Saini (25), an MBA student in Georgia's Lithonia and a part-time clerk at a convenience store was killed in an attack by a homeless drug addict who used to take shelter at the store itself.

Julian Faulkner was helped by Vivek Saini with food, water and even warm clothes, reports said.

On January 16, the 25-year-old reportedly refused to give Faulkner free food and the refusal allegedly led to the fatal attack.

The horrifying incident was caught on camera, showing Julian Faulkner hitting Vivek Saini nearly 50 times on the head with a hammer.

Akul Dhawan: Another Indian-American student, 18-year-old Akul B Dhawan, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was found dead last month with signs of hypothermia.

Dhawan reportedly went missing in the early hours of January 20 and was found dead almost 10 hours later on the back porch of a building near the university campus in west Urbana in the US state of Illinois.

(with PTI inputs)