Jaahnavi Kandula was killed after being hit by a speeding police car on January 23.
New Delhi:
The video of a US cop laughing while discussing the death of an Indian student in Seattle has sparked outrage, both among lawmakers as well as Indian-Americans. Jaahnavi Kandula was killed after being hit by a speeding police car on January 23. The car was being driven by Officer Kevin Dave
On Monday, the Seattle Police Department released bodycam footage of another cop, Officer Daniel Auderer joking about the deadly crash and also dismissing the need for a criminal investigation.
“She is dead,” he says before breaking into laughter while referring to Kandula as a “regular person”.
The clip ends with him saying: “She was 26 anyway, she had limited value”, getting her age wrong.
The 23-year-old Kandula, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, was pursuing a master’s degree from the Northeastern University campus in South Lake Union.
What happened on January 23?
Jaahnavi Kandula was walking on the crosswalk, when she was hit by the speeding car being driven by Officer Kevin Dave, according to a Seattle Times report. Kandula was not jaywalking – i.e., crossing the road at any point other than a zebra crossing.
Kandula was taken to Harbourview Medical Centre, but died due to her injuries.
Kevin Dave was travelling at 119 km per hour when the accident occurred, the Seattle Police Department said in a report. The preliminary inquiry also determined the speed of the vehicle was the main reason for the collision.
Dave hit the brakes just a a second before it hit Kandula and was travelling at about 63 miles per hour (101 km per hour) at the time of impact. Kandula was thrown over 100 feet.
“The speed at which Ofc. DAVE was traveling did not allow [Kandula] or him sufficient time to detect, address and avoid a hazard that presented itself,” said a police conclusion according to a report in PubliCola.
The speed limit on the street where she was hit was 25 miles per hour, or 40 km per hour.
A day after the incident, the police said that the officer had been responding to a 911 call from someone who thought they might be overdosing on drugs.
The Consulate General of India in San Francisco has raised concerns over the recent video and has demanded a thorough investigation and action against those involved.
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