A day after an Indian engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, was shot and killed in a bar in Kansas in the United States, his wife has spoken up.
Addressing the American media, Sunayana Dumala said, "He did not deserve a death like this. In two weeks, he would've celebrated his 33rd birthday...I don't know what to say. We've read many times in newspapers of some kind of shooting happening everywhere and I was always concerned if we were doing the right thing by staying in the US."
"He always assured me that only good things happen to good people...He was just enjoying a glass of beer with his friends. This guy (suspect) started saying discriminatory things about his (Srinivas') race. He was still minding his own business," she adds.
Sunayana went on to say, "My husband should've left but he was sitting there because he was not doing anything wrong. The guy came back and did what he had to do. He has taken a life. A very lovable soul from everyone. His parents, my parents, our entire family back home is in grief. I don't know what answer I had to give his mother, about why I was not able to save him."
She also told the media that she had considered moving to another country, but Srinivas had refused, because he loved the country.
"I need an answer from the government. What are they going to do to stop hate crimes? Not just for my husband, who lost his battle, but for everyone -- for all those people, of any race, who have lost their loved ones." she adds.
Srinivas, (32), was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani, hailing from Warangal town, was injured when Adam W Purinton, a US Navy veteran, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, on Wednesday night.
The two engineers were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.
Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the victims and hurled racial slurs. He yelled "get out of my country" and "terrorist" before shooting them.
Purinton, according to reports, provoked them into argument asking their presence and work in his country, and how they were better than him.
"Does the colour of a person state that he is a Hindu, a Muslim or a Christian? How did the guy decide that? As much as I know my husband, he would want justice to be done, and we need an answer of what they're going to do," Sunayana concluded.
Watch the video there.
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