HYDERABAD: Within days of launching a fundraiser for Kurnool's Jahnavi Kandula, who died after being hit by a police vehicle in Seattle, the Indian diaspora in the US has raised $1,53,993 (approximately 1.25 crore) to help her family.
Jahnavi, 23, was walking in Dexter avenue north on January 23 at 8 pm when a police patrol vehicle knocked her down. "She has a single mother working as a teacher in a school in AP, which makes it difficult to repay her education loan and also the transportation expenses that the family has to bear," one of the fundraisers, Vanisudha Chilkuri, said.
Jahnavi was pursuing her Master's in Northeastern University, Seattle. She has a sister who lives along with her mother.
More than 4,600 people responded to the request to raise money. Vanisudha from Texas, who launched the fundraiser on January 28, said they have closed the fundraising request following a huge response. "We will discuss with Jahnavi's mother on how best we can put the generous donation to good use to give financial security," Vanisudha said.
Meanwhile, the Seattle police department (SPD) issued a statement on the accident following several questions on the circumstances that led to the freak death of Jahnavi.
"We received several queries on the collision on January 23 night between an SPD officer and a pedestrian. This incident is under investigation by SPD's traffic collision investigation squad," police said.
SPD further said, "For purposes of both preserving the integrity of the investigation and respecting the family's right to privacy, we will not be putting out information over and beyond what has already been provided." It said the officer was driving the patrol SUV while responding to a Seattle fire department's call when he hit Jahnavi.
Sushil Rao is Editor-Special Reports, at The Times of India, Hyde...
Read MoreSushil Rao is Editor-Special Reports, at The Times of India, Hyderabad. He began his journalism career at the age of 20 in 1988. He is a gold medalist in journalism from the Department of Communication and Journalism, Arts College, Osmania University, Hyderabad from where he did his post-graduation from. He has been with The Times of India’s Hyderabad edition since its launch in 2000. He has also done an introductory course in film studies from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and also from the Central University of Kerala equipping himself with the knowledge of filmmaking for film criticism. He has authored four books. In his career spanning 34 years, he has worked for five newspapers and has also done television reporting. He was also a web journalist during internet’s infancy in the mid 1990s in India. He covers defence, politics, diaspora, innovation, administration, the film industry, Hyderabad city and Telangana state, and human interest stories. He is also a podcaster, blogger, does video reporting and makes documentaries.
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