How Seattle officer mocking Indian student’s death has led to a diplomatic row

An Indian student in the United States was killed in Seattle while crossing the street after she was hit by a police vehicle. The mishap happened on 23 January, but eight months on, the death of 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula has snowballed into a diplomatic row. India has demanded a probe in the case where an officer was heard joking about the woman’s death. What did the Seattle officer say? An investigation into the death of the student from Andhra Pradesh by the city oversight agency is underway after a body-worn camera recorded a conversation between two leaders of the Seattle police department union. An officer is heard saying that the woman’s life was of “limited value” and that the city of Seattle should write a cheque. This was not the cop driving the car that killed Kandula. In the video released by the Seattle police department on Monday, the police officer can be heard joking and laughing while discussing the accident. In a call with the guild’s president Mike Solan, Seattle Police Officers’ Guild Vice President Daniel Auderer, is heard saying, “She is dead” before bursting into laughter and calling Kandula “a regular person”. As he continued laughing, he added, “Yeah, just write a check. Eleven thousand dollars.” Solan’s audio cannot be heard. The video clip ends with Auderer saying, “She was 26 anyway, she had limited value”, getting her age wrong, according to a report by NDTV.

An Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula from Andhra Pradesh was studying in USA.

She was killed in a road accident by a Police car in January 2023.

Now, 8 months after accident, a bodycam video of Daniel Auderer, who is Vice President of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, has gone… pic.twitter.com/QqnphGkNqw

— Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) September 13, 2023

How has India reacted? There has been massive outrage over the insensitive video and India has reacted strongly.  India’s ambassador to the United States sought prompt action into the matter. The Consulate General of India in San Francisco on Wednesday termed the incident and the now-viral video of the police officer’s reaction as “deeply troubling”. The Indian Mission in San Francisco wrote on the microblogging site X, “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.”

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

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It called for a “thorough investigation” and “action against those involved in this tragic case”. “The Consulate & Embassy will continue to closely follow up on this matter with all concerned authorities,” the post added. What has the US said? The Biden administration has taken cognizance of the issue and assured the Indian government of a quick investigation into the case. According to a PTI report, senior administration officials are believed to have assured the Indian ambassador and the Indian government that the entire incident has been taken very seriously by them. Expressing “shock” and “horror” over the incident, the officials said they are monitoring the investigation and the progress of the case from Washington DC to ensure adequate accountability. [caption id=“attachment_13122092” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Jaahanvi Kandula was a student from Adoni in Andhra Pradesh and was pursuing a master’s degree from the Northeastern University campus[/caption] How has the Seattle police department reacted? On Monday, the Seattle Community Police Commission, an oversight agency, issued a statement following the release of the video. It called the conversation between Auderer and his colleague, “heartbreaking and shockingly insensitive.” “The people of Seattle deserve better from a police department that is charged with fostering trust with the community and ensuring public safety,” it added. However, the Seattle police department, which released the video “in the interest of transparency,” said it would not comment on the matter until the police accountability office concludes its investigation into the incident, NDTV reports. It said that it discovered the conversation from an employee who listened to it “in the routine course of business”. The employee was “concerned about the nature of statements" and escalated it up the chain of command, according to the police statement, reports the BBC. [caption id=“attachment_13122102” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] India has demanded a probe after video of an officer mocking the student’s death went viral. Image courtesy: Seattle Police Department/Facebook[/caption] What has the police officer said? A conservative talk radio host on Seattle-based radio station KTTH-AM, Jason Rantz, had obtained a written statement from Auderer, who said that his comments were meant to mimic how city attorneys might try to minimise liability for the woman’s death, the BBC report says. “I laughed at the ridiculousness of how these incidents are litigated,” Auderer wrote, according to KTTH radio. Who was Jaahnavi Kandula? Kandula was a student from Adoni in Andhra Pradesh and was pursuing a master’s degree from the Northeastern University campus in South Lake Union. She went to the United States from Bengaluru on a student exchange programme in 2021 and was to graduate in December this year. Kandula earlier studied commerce at the Dr Jyothirmayi Degree College in Andhra Pradesh. The student was brought up by a single mother who teaches in a school, according to a report in The Seattle Times. Kandula’s mother took a loan so that her daughter could travel to the US to study. The deceased woman also has a sister who lives with their mother. “Her priority was to help her family,” Kandula’s uncle told the publication. Remembering Kandula, David Thurman, dean of Northeastern’s Seattle Campus, said she was a “stellar student and a delightful and effervescent human being,” whose death will be felt “deeply by students, staff, and faculty across campus.” How did the accident happen? Kandula died after she was hit by a speeding patrol car, driven by an officer, Kevin Dave in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighbourhood. The Seattle Times, citing a police investigation, reports that Dave was going at 119 kmph and the student’s body was thrown more than 100 ft (30 metres). Dave was on the way to report an overdose when he hit Kandula. She was trying to cross the street when she was struck by the police car. Kandula was rushed to Harborview Medical Center but succumbed to her injuries. Dave was in a rush because he was reportedly responding to a “priority one” call in coordination with the fire department. The police department defined such a call as one that is of the “highest priority” and is concerned with “a threat to life”, according to a report by The Quint. Dave was working with the police department since November 2019 and was placed on leave after the incident. With inputs from agencies