More than 200 people belonging to different communities held a rally demanding justice for deceased Indian student, 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula. They held the protest at an intersection where she was allegedly hit and killed by a speeding police patrol car.
On January 23, Jaahnavi was killed at the same place, when she was struck by the car driven by Officer Kevin Dave when she was crossing the street.
The protestors called for accountability for the officer who killed her and for a police union leader's comments on the crash, which some described as "disgusting" and "abhorrent", reported The Seattle Times.
The participants at the rally in South Union also called for the resignation of Officer Auderer and the other officer who struck Kandula.
The rally was voiced by people who called out the blatant discrimination displayed by the police system, the white supremacy and the criminalising and undervaluing of the lives of Black and indigenous people and other people of colour, the report added.
Many local residents expressed their anger at the incident resurfacing months later without anybody held accountable for Kandula's death so far.
Many say that laughing at a person's death is disgusting and extremely dehumanising.
A spokesperson from the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (SAARPR) said, "The people that are in charge of enforcing the rules are not made accountable when they break them. The system is failing."
Kandula's life
The 23-year-old was a final-year student and was set to graduate this coming December with a Master's degree in Information Systems from the Seattle campus of Northeastern University. Kandula's family reportedly said that her family was working hard towards supporting her mother in India.
The Indian Consulate has reportedly been closely following up on the matter with the concerned authorities, a PTI report added.
