Priyanka Chopra Jonas on Jaahnavi Kandula’s death: One cannot put any value to life

"It's appalling to learn that such a tragic incident that happened 9 months ago is only coming to light NOW. A life is a life," Priyanka wrote.

Los Angeles: Reacting to the killing of Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula in Seattle in Washington state of the US, actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas said a life is a life and one can’t put any value to it.

Kandula, 23, was struck by a police vehicle driven by Officer Kevin Dave when she was crossing a street on January 23. He was driving 74 mph (more than 119 kmh) on the way to a report of a drug overdose call.

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Kandula was in the crosswalk and was thrown 100 feet when she was struck by the police patrol car. In bodycam footage released on Monday by the Seattle Police Department, Officer Daniel Auderer laughed about the deadly crash and dismissed any implication Dave might be at fault or that a criminal investigation was necessary.

“It’s appalling to learn that such a tragic incident that happened 9 months ago is only coming to light NOW. A life is a life. One cannot put any value to it,” Priyanka, who is based out of Los Angeles, wrote on her Instagram Stories Saturday night.

In the video, Auderer can be heard saying, “Yeah, just write a check. USD 11,000. She was 26 anyway, she had limited value.” In an Instagram post, singer-composer Sid Sriram said the incident shines a light on how the “brown folk” (the South Asian community) continue to be perceived in the US.

“The ‘value’ that disgusting cop spoke about and the flippance with which he said this is a direct reflection of how we as a population are viewed by many here,” Sriram wrote.

He further urged the South Asian community to raise their voice and be unapologetic about their identity.

“The only thought that keeps recurring in my mind is this: directly fight the model minority myth, f*** being passive. Be loud, take up space, speak up in all ways micro and macro, actively fight against the idea that we must conform to any stereotype, wear all aspects of your individual identity on your sleeve without apology. Our value is infinitely powerful. Prayers up for her family real prayers, no lip service,” he added in his post.

US lawmakers and Indian-Americans have expressed outrage over the death of Kandula.

The Biden administration has assured the Indian government of a prompt probe into the incident and bring to justice the police officers responsible for it.