Indian engineer's widow leads peace march
11 March 2018 6:03 PM GMT
Houston: Sunayana Dumala, the widow of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla who was murdered in a racially motivated hate crime at a bar in Kansas City last year, led a peace walk with her husband's hundreds of friends and co-workers. Sunayana led the memorial peace walk on Friday what would have been the 34th birthday of Kuchibhotla.
Kuchibhotla was fatally shot in Olathe, Kansas, in February last year by a US navy veteran. His colleague Alok Madasani was also critically injured in the attack. "We're gathered here because of man's one action and the hate that took of an innocent life," Sunayana told the large crowd gathered outside of Garmin where Kuchibhotla and Madasani were engineers.
The approximately 3-kilometer peace walk from the Garmin headquarters to the bar was meant to honour the life of Kuchibhotla.
Last week, Adam Purinton, 52, pleaded guilty before a Kansas court. He was charged with first-degree murder of Kuchibhotla, 32, and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the shootings of his friend, Madasani. Purinton, yelled, "Get out of my country," before shooting Kuchibhotla, who later died from injuries sustained in the attack.
He also shot and wounded Ian Grillot, an Olathe man who tried to defend Kuchibhotla and Madasani. Grillot also attended Friday's walk.
"Sunayana has not let this tragedy defeat her, instead she used the circumstances to find a voice and spread a message," Garmin CEO Clifton Pemble said to the crowd before the walk began.
Next Story
