he families of an Indian engineer who was killed and another who was injured in the firing by an American in Kansas have blamed the policies of President Donald Trump for the incident.
While parents of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead, were too shocked to speak, his relatives said the action of the former Navy serviceman was a result of Trump's policies.
"It shows Trump is the prime reason," was how Srinivas' cousin R. Sastry reacted while talking to reporters at the engineer's house at Bachupally on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
"The attacker made racist remark and asked them to get out of the country. It was clear that he wanted to target them," said Sastry.
He said though many of his relatives were living in the US for 10 to 20 years, they never encountered any such incident.
"We feel threatened," said another relative of Srinivas.
A pall of gloom descended on the house of Srinivas as grieving relatives pour in to console his parents.
His father K. Madhusudhana Sastry, 70, who retired as scientist from Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IDPL), and mother Parvata Vardhini, were in a state of shock.
One of the three sons of Madhusudhana, Srinivas was living in US for over a decade. He married in 2012 and his wife was also staying with him.
Srinivas, 32, was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani, hailing from Warangal town, was injured when Adam W. Purinton, a white who earlier served in the US Navy, shot them at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, on Wednesday night.
The two engineers were working as aviation programme managers at Garmin, an electronics manufacturer.
Purinton reportedly got into an argument with the victims and hurled racial slurs. He yelled "get out of my country" and "terrorist" before shooting them.
Purinton, according to reports, provoked them into argument asking their presence and work in his country, and how they were better than him.
Alok's father Madasani Jaganmohan Reddy said though they told Purinton that they are legally staying and working in US, he continued to throw slurs and fired at them.
Alok is recovering and is out of danger but Reddy said he would ask his son to return home as the situation had turned bad after Trump became the President. "My son, like many other Indians in US are well qualified and can get better jobs in India," he said.
SLAIN INDIAN ENGINEER WAS 'OUTSTANDING', 'FRIENDLY'
Neighbours, friends and family remembered Srinivas Kuchibhotla -- an Indian engineer who was killed in a bar shooting in the US earlier this week -- as a quiet and an outstanding human being.
Kuchibhotla was killed when former US Navy personnel Adam W. Purinton, a white, shot him and another Indian at the Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas state, on Wednesday night.
His neighbours described him as "friendly". Kuchibhotla was married but had no children, KCTV5 News reported on Friday.
"I know they have lots of support from people they know and people they don't," Jennifer Snyder, the couple's neighbour, said.
"Anything we can do, we want to support. They're just the nicest couple you'd ever meet from what I've heard. It's not just your neighbour here, it's your family."
A GoFundMe page created to collect money to help Kuchibhotla's family crossed its $150,000 goal, raising nearly $250,000 in a few hours. More than 6,700 people, including Americans, donated $248,404 on the page created by Kuchibhotla's friend Kavipriya Muthuramalingam.
"Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of love, care and compassion for everyone. He never uttered a word of hatred, a simple gossip, or a careless comment. He was brilliant, well mannered and simply an outstanding human being," the page said.
Meanhile, flowers lay outside Austin's Bar and Grill on Friday morning as the Olathe community continued to grieve the shooting incident.
