Hundreds of people gathered at the Mahaprasthanam crematorium in Hyderabad's Jubilee Hills area to bid a tearful farewell to Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the Indian engineer who was shot last week at a Kansas bar in an alleged hate crime.
Srinivas' friends and family wept as his funeral pyre was lit, amidst cries of “Srinivas Kuchibhotla amar rahe” and “Bharat mata ki jai”.
Srinivas' body was loaded onto a van at around 12.30pm at his residence in Bachupally, and made its way to Jubilee Hills.
Several politicians were also gathered at the spot, including Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya.
On Monday night, Srinivas' body was brought by a cargo flight which arrived at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) around 10pm. Kuchibhotla's father K Madhusudhana Sastry and other family members received the body. After completing all formalities, the body was carried in an ambulance to his house.
Kuchibhotla's wife Sunayana Dumala, her brother, sister-in-law and another family member reached the city by a passenger flight from the US.
Many family members wept as Srinivas' body was kept in a glass case at the entrance of his residence.
Srinivas was killed and Alok Madasani was injured when Adam W Purinton, a white man who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, last Wednesday.
Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the victims and hurled racial slurs. He yelled "get out of my country", "terrorist" before shooting them.
Kuchibhotla of Hyderabad and his colleague Madasani from Warangal district in Telangana were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an MNC.
Meanwhile, 51-year-old Adam Purinton, who faces one charge of first-degree murder and two charges of attempted first-degree murder, made his first appearance at a Kansas court via video conference.
#srinivaskuchibotla embarks on his final journey. Taken to the cremation ground in #Hyderabad The vacuum left behind can never be replaced. pic.twitter.com/A4J3uAAmUh
— Paul C Oommen (@Paul_Oommen) February 28, 2017
At cremation ground, heartbreaking to hear father of #SrinivasKuchibotla call out son's name 'Seenu, Seenu, Seenu' repeatedly #Hindu ritual
— Uma Sudhir (@umasudhir) February 28, 2017
Hyderabad: Last rites ceremony of Indian engineer #SrinivasKuchibhotla, who was killed in #Kansas, US. pic.twitter.com/rwqr6cT4lW
— ANI (@ANI_news) February 28, 2017
Last rites of #kansas shooting victim #srinivas Kuchibhotla held - ANI #News https://t.co/Mp2VFivTNS #kansaskilling #Hyderabad #kuchibhotla
— ANI Multimedia (@ANI_multimedia) February 28, 2017