Video of US Cops laughing and joking over student’s death surfaces, India calls it ‘deeply troubling’

A graduate student at Northeastern University's campus in Seattle. Jaahnavi Kandula, 23, was killed in January after being hit by a police car driven by Officer Kevin Dave. According to the Seattle Times, the officer was driving at over 120 km/ph, on his way to a report a case of an overdose. India has urged the United States to conduct a comprehensive probe into bodycam footage of a Seattle cop laughing about the death of an Indian student who was killed by a speeding police car.

The Seattle Police Department released a video Monday in which other officers could be heard laughing and cracking jokes about the incident. In the video, Seattle Police Officers' Guild Vice President Daniel Auderer can be heard saying, "She is dead," before bursting out laughing and referring to Ms. Kandula as a "regular person." "Yeah, write a check for eleven thousand bucks," he added as the laughter rang out. The clip ends with him saying: "She was 26 anyway, she had limited value", getting her age wrong.

Taking to X, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco described the accident and the subsequent video a ‘deeply troubling’ and demanded strict action against those involved. “Recent reports including in media of the handling of Ms Jaahnavi Kandula’s death in a road accident in Seattle in January are deeply troubling. We have taken up the matter strongly with local authorities in Seattle & Washington State as well as senior officials in Washington DC”, reads the Indian Consulate’s tweet.

Recent reports including in media of the handling of Ms Jaahnavi Kandula’s death in a road accident in Seattle in January are deeply troubling. We have taken up the matter strongly with local authorities in Seattle & Washington State as well as senior officials in Washington DC

— India in SF (@CGISFO) September 13, 2023

A native of India’s Andra Pradesh, Kandula was pursuing her master’s degree at the Northeastern University in Seattle. "The family has nothing to say. Except I wonder if these men's daughters or granddaughters have value. A life is a life.” said Jaanhvi Kandula’s Uncle Ashoke Kandula. 
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