Cop’s shameful comments: YSRCP urges MEA to raise issue with US

Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old student from Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, was killed on January 25 in Seattle's South Lake Union neighbourhood after she was hit by a police vehicle driven by a Seattle police officer Kevin Dave.

Amaravati: The YSRCP parliamentary party leader V. Vijayasai Reddy on Thursday urged External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to raise with the US government the issue relating to callous comments by a US police officer about the death of a student from Andhra Pradesh after she was hit by a speeding police car.

The Rajya Sabha member said that shameful comments made by Seattle Police officers about the death of Jaahnavi Kandula are appalling. Calling her a regular person with limited value is crass and insensitive, he posted on X. The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader urged Jaishankar to raise this issue with the US government for strict action.

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Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old student from Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, was killed on January 25 in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighbourhood after she was hit by a police vehicle driven by a Seattle police officer Kevin Dave. Bodycam footage of a Seattle cop joking about the death of Jaahnavi has leaked, triggering an outrage. India has urged the US to conduct a thorough investigation.

In a video released by the Seattle Police Department on September 11, a cop can be heard joking and laughing while discussing the accident. In the clip, Seattle Police Officers’ Guild Vice President Daniel Auderer, in a call with the guild’s president, can be heard saying, “She is dead” before bursting out into laughter and calling Jaahnavi “a regular person”. He further said, through bursts of laughter, “Yeah, just write a check. Eleven thousand dollars.” The clip ends with him saying: “She was 26 anyway, she had limited value”, getting her age wrong.

Hailing from Adoni town Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, she was a master’s student at Northeastern University’s Seattle campus. She had gone to the US in 2021 and was pursuing her Master’s degree in Information Systems. Her graduation was expected by December next. The victim’s family has made no comment on the police officer’s comments. Her mother Kandula Vijayalakshmi said the family did not expect any compensation from the US government.