Indian-American student Akul Dhawan barred to enter club before freezing to death
Illinois, a midwestern state of the US, experiences severe cold in January, with temperatures ranging from -20° to -30° F
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University of Illinois (img: IANS) |
Updated on Feb 23, at 5.09 p.m.
Almost a month after an incident involving the death of an 18-year-old Indian-American student who reportedly died after being missing for hours, an investigation unearthed a shocking detail about the case.
On Jan 20, around 11.30 p.m., Akul Dhawan was out for drinks with his friends. The Canopy Club staff members barred Dhawan from entering the club, due to which he had to wait outside for his friends to come back.
Later that night, he was reported missing by one of his friends. He was found dead on the same night with signs of hypothermia (a condition when the body loses heat rapidly due to exposure to very cold temperatures).
Illinois, a midwestern state of the US, experiences severe cold in January, with temperatures ranging from -20° to -30° F due to cold winds.
Updated on Jan 27 at 1.08 p.m.
Akul B Dhawan, an 18-year-old studying electrical engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was reported missing on Jan 20 just before 1:30 a.m. by his friend, as per news reports.
According to the University of Illinois police, he was found nearly 10 hours later on the back porch of a building near the university campus in west Urbana, which experienced brutal cold and freezing temperatures dipping between -20° to -30°.
Ish and Ritu Dhawan said on Jan 24 that their son was found just 400 feet from where he was reported missing based on location-tracking data on their son’s phone.
Accusing the university’s police department of negligence, they filed a complaint against them over how the search was handled, as per news reports.
“This is bizarre, that a kid is never found who was just less than a block, like one minute away, sitting there, dead, frozen to death. Imagine as a dad and mom what’s going through in our mind. I visualise his every minute that my son froze to death in a university campus,” said Ish Dhawan.
“We really need answers,” his mother said.
“What is the proof that they totally searched in this area, around the area they’re talking (about), this half-block? My kid would have been found.”
Dhawan came to the University of Illinois’ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to study robotics despite his parent’s opposition, who wanted him to study closer to home in California.
The exact cause of Akul’s death is under investigation by the campus police, the Illinois State police and the Champaign county coroner’s office.
Preliminary investigations by the University police suggest that “there was no foul play involved, and the death is initially believed to be accidental”.
According to the coroner’s office, preliminary findings of an autopsy performed on Jan 23 showed signs of hypothermia.
“The preliminary findings showed no evidence of significant trauma. There was evidence of hypothermic skin changes. The final autopsy report is pending toxicology studies,” the Champaign county coroner said in a news statement.
University of Illinois police have requested anyone with information on the incident to contact the department.
(Source: IANS)
- Edited for style
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