Jyothirmayee fourth Andhra student killed abroad in last 6 months

HYDERABAD: VS Jyothirmayee, a student from Vijayawada who was murdered in Britain on Tuesday, is the fourth student from Andhra Pradesh to be killed abroad in attacks by unidentified people in the past six months.

The spate of killings has left parents worried about the safety of their children studying abroad.

Jyothirmayee, 23, was killed by alleged burglars in her rented house in Handsworth, Birmingham, Tuesday evening. She was pursuing a masters course in public health at the University of Wolverhampton.

"We had sent her with big dreams only eight months ago but never imagined that her body would return home," said Jyothirmayee's father N Saibaba.

In March, A Srinivas, a student from Karimnagar who was pursuing an MD in internal medicine in the US, was found dead with stab injuries in his room in the Scranton State University, Pennsylvania.

In December last year, two PhD students from Karimnagar and Kurnool districts were murdered in their hostel room in Louisiana State University in the US. Kiran Kumar and K Chandrasekhara Reddy were shot dead by unidentified people.

"If a foreigner is attacked in our country the police pursue the case vigorously and sometimes even go beyond the limits of law to catch the culprits because they are worried about the impact it would have on our country's image abroad. But the same doesn't happen if an Indian student is attacked abroad," said Saibaba, a former film distributor.

Saibaba received a phone call from Jyothirmayee's friends who told him that she was murdered by unidentified people who broke into the house she was sharing with two other women. One of her roommates was also injured in the attack.

Except for the phone call, Saibaba has not received any information about the incident or the cause of the murder either from the university or the Indian mission.

Jyothirmayee, the eldest of Saibaba's two daughters, had gone to Britain in September last year after completing her bachelors in physiotherapy from Vijaya Institute of Medical Sciences in Vijayawada. Her sister Deepti Priya is a third-year engineering student in Vijayawada.

"The incident is shocking because Britain is considered a safe place for people from all over the world, especially for students from India," said J Shankar, former mayor of Vijayawada. He feels that the Indian government should take up the issue of the security of Indian students with US and Britain.

The issue of students' safety had figured in the state assembly during the recent budget session. The government had then assured the house that it would take up the issue with the centre to ensure that students from the state get proper security.

Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy has directed officials to get in touch with the Indian high commission in London to make arrangement for Jyothirmayee's body to be brought home.

Vijayawada MP L Rajagopal has also contacted the Indian mission and European Telugu Association to ensure her body is brought back at the earliest.