Chief Minister, Vijayasai urges MEA to raise issue with US

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and 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 Chief Minister on Thursday wrote a letter to external affairs minister S Jaishankar referring to the video released by Seattle police department, wherein it showed that an officer was ridiculing the death with passing comments of limiting the value of the life of an innocent student Jaahnavi Kandula. The Chief Minister stated that this type of inhuman behaviour of such officers against non-Americans should be condemned and strict action should be recommended against errant police officer to instil a sense of confidence and assurance among Indians in America. The Chief Minister urged the Union minister to take up the issue with US ambassador to India and discuss the issue with relevant authorities of US government. Rajya Sabha member Vijayasai Reddy said that shameful comments made by Seattle police officers about the death of Jaahnavi Kandula from Kurnool district are appalling. “Calling her a ‘regular person’ with ‘limited value’ is crass and insensitive,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter). The YSRCP leader urged Jaishankar to raise this issue with the US government for strict action. Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old student from Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, was killed on January 23 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. 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.