Friends and mentors of Neel Acharya, the Indian student in the US whose body was discovered after he went missing, are deeply shocked by the tragedy. Acharya, a student at Purdue University in Indiana, had been missing since Sunday. Later that day, a body was found on the university campus and was confirmed to be Acharya.
The interim head of the computer science department at Purdue University, Chris Clifton, sent an email to students and faculty members informing them of Acharya’s passing. In the email, Clifton expressed his condolences to Acharya’s loved ones and described him as a motivated individual with exceptional academic talent. Clifton emphasized that Acharya’s death has left the community in shock and is a significant loss.
Clifton revealed to The Purdue Exponent that he received confirmation of Acharya’s death from the Office of the Dean of Students. He stated that a deceased individual matching Acharya’s description was found with his identification.
Acharya, a double major in computer science and data science in the John Martinson Honors College, was remembered fondly by his friend and roommate Aryan Khanolkar as a caring and charismatic person.
According to information from Neel Acharya’s LinkedIn profile, he completed his schooling in Pune and enrolled at Purdue University in 2022.
On Sunday, Acharya’s mother, Gaury, took to Twitter to announce that her son was missing, stating that he was last seen being dropped off at the campus by an Uber driver. She appealed for assistance in locating him. Sadly, Acharya’s death was confirmed shortly after.
This tragic incident follows closely after the brutal killing of another Indian student in the US, Vivek Saini, who was studying for an MBA in Lithonia, Georgia. Saini had been working part-time at a convenience store where he encountered a homeless man named Julian Faulkner. Reports suggest that Saini’s refusal to provide Faulkner with free food on January 16 led to a violent altercation resulting in Saini’s death.
