US Indian Student found Dead had Shot Himself

A US Indian student who was found dead in a wooded area at a nature preserve was found to have fatally shot himself in the head.

According to Warren County Coroner Justin Brummett, Sameer Kamath’s body was discovered at around 5 pm on February 5, 2024, at Crow’s Grove Nature Preserve.

Sameer was a US citizen.

He had completed his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Indiana’s Purdue University in August 2023.

The 23-year-old was pursuing a doctorate in the same department.

In a press release, Mr Brummett said a forensic autopsy was performed on Sameer on February 6 in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

It stated that the preliminary cause of death was a “gunshot wound of the head” and the Indian student died by “suicide”.

The release added: “Through extensive investigation by the Warren County Coroner’s Office in conjunction with multiple other local and federal agencies, we are now able to release a preliminary cause and manner of death.”

A toxicology report is pending.

Sameer’s family was notified of the results.

This is an ongoing investigation with the Warren County Coroner’s Office, Warren County Sheriff’s Office, Purdue University Administration and other supporting agencies.

Mr Brummett said: “Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to the family and we hope they are respected during such a difficult time.”

From Massachusetts, Sameer “received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and came to Purdue in the summer of 2021.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, he was due to graduate from the doctoral programme in 2025.

It marks the second death of an Indian student at the university in 2024.

In January, Neel Acharya was found dead on campus after going missing for several days.

Neel was pursuing a double honours in Computer Science and Data Science and was a part of the prestigious John Martinson Honours College.

Authorities said that there was no trauma or significant injuries found during the autopsy on Acharya and “no foul play is suspected at this time”.

There has also been a spate of attacks on Indian students in the United States recently.

In Georgia, Vivek Saini was bludgeoned to death by a homeless man inside the store where he worked part-time.

He and other employees at the Chevron Food Mart had been sheltering Julian Faulkner for several days.

But when Vivek asked Faulkner to leave one day, the student was repeatedly struck with a hammer.