Dead they brought him home

BHUBANESWAR: For the family members of K Seshadri Rao, the last one week was most traumatic. While murder of  the Odisha student in Boston in the US had left them devastated, the agonising wait for his body added to the anguish. Seshadri’s body was flown in here on Tuesday evening. It was a tragic scene at the Biju Patnaik Airport where the family members, including father K Sudhakar Rao and mother Vijaylaxmi, were inconsolable.“Had an American student been killed in India, there would have been an uproar but since my son was killed in the US, there is no reaction. It is sad and unfortunate,” the father said. The 24-year-old student was shot dead outside the Boston University campus on Thursday. While the family members were grieving, tardy progress in the murder investigation only compounded their misery. The student had apparently been mugged a week ago and it was reported to the local police in Boston. “From what I found out from my brother’s friends was that he had been mugged two weeks back. His jacket was snatched but he had managed to save his cellphone from the miscreants. A female friend, who was with him, was robbed of her laptop,” said K Sandeep Rao, victim’s brother who is now studying at the National Institute of Science, Education and Research in the City. Vijaylaxmi was strongly opposed to the idea of Seshadri studying in the US but gave in after much persuasion. “His friends may know about the incident. They should come forward and tell the whole incident to police so that stringent action could be taken against the killers,” she said. Last rites of Seshadri are likely to be conducted in Puri on Wednesday. “ As our custom does not permit us to cremate in the evening, we will perform last rites on Wednesday morning,” Sudhakar said Seshadri’s death has shocked the family so much that Sandeep, who was to go for a summer internship in University of Cologne, Germany, has dropped his plan. “I will not go abroad for a single day,” he said. A brilliant student, Seshadri was pursuing his graduate management studies in Boston University and would have completed the course by December. His body with gunshot injuries was found on Allston Street, about  1.6 km from the university campus.