We deal with at least one death of an Indian a day across U.S.: community leader
The Hindu
In the past few weeks, a string of deaths among Indian students in the U.S. has caused deep concern.
Amid concerns over a string of deaths among Indian students in the U.S., a prominent community leader has said his organisation is dealing with at least one such tragic case a day and underscored the need for creating awareness among immigrants from India to ensure their safety.
“Not to exaggerate, but we deal with at least one death a day across the country and mostly among young students or H-1B employees who have recently immigrated” to the U.S. from India, Mohan Nannapaneni, founder of volunteer-based nonprofit organisation TEAM Aid, told PTI in an interview on Wednesday.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
TEAM Aid is a one-of-its-kind organisation whose primary focus is to help members of the Indian community who are either travelling or living abroad and face dire situations such as accidents, suicides, homicides or sudden death of loved ones.
Mr. Nannapaneni said it is very tragic to see that lately many students from India are “getting into trouble” and unfortunately some have passed away.
"But it's not recent. If you look at the history, it's been happening for many years and I have been actively involved since 2001 in helping the community,” he said.
He said there have been instances of Indian students tragically passing away due to car accidents and drowning. He raised concern that drug abuse is becoming rampant across the U.S. and unfortunately, there have been cases of Indian students succumbing to drug abuse and overdose.