An Indian student, age 18, “froze to death” in the United States; family members suspect foul play

According to a local media source, an Indian-origin student in the US reportedly died from freezing to death after being turned away from a club.

On January 20, the 18-year-old victim, Akul Dhawan, was discovered frozen close to his university. He was a first-year University of Illinois at Urbana student.

According to a news statement from the Champaign County Coroner’s office, the student’s cause of death was hypothermia.

Dhwan reportedly went out with his companions but was turned away from a bar near his college.

Dhawan attempted to enter the club several times at approximately 11.30 p.m., according to CCTV video outside the bar, but was turned away for unclear reasons each time.

In addition, the victim had devieved two rideshare cars that were summoned for him and refused to leave the location.

According to the police, one of his pals called Dhawan many times throughout the course of the evening.

The deceased wasn’t discovered until eleven a.m. the next day, on concrete stairs, four minutes’ walk from the club.

According to The Kansas City Star, Dhawan was declared dead at the scene by the coroner’s office, which also said that “acute alcohol intoxication and prolonged exposure to extremely cold temperatures, significantly contributed to his death.”

A different local newspaper said that the victim’s parents had written an open letter demanding “a thorough and transparent investigation” in the meantime.

“On January 21, we departed from California for Urbana, and the following day, we had a meeting with university officials and police investigators. We think our kid was never looked for by the police. The buddy who reported him missing never saw UI police in person. The family said, “We have been questioning why Akul was discovered ten hours later instead of right away when he was reported missing, when he may still be rescued.

The victim’s relatives also voiced their skepticism on the purportedly carried out search activities by the authorities.

Dhawan’s companion discovered him gone at 1.23 in the morning, and ten hours later, he was discovered dead.

The family questioned the police about how many authorities were involved in the procedure, what transpired throughout the ten hours, and why the procedures were stopped.

“Why were family and emergency contact not contacted to help with the search?” said the letter.

“Akul was discovered in the star mark the next morning. Less than 200 feet separate this from Busey-Evans Residence Hall. If a thorough search had been conducted in the vicinity of the Busey-Evans Residence Hall, our son might have been rescued with ease,” the letter said.

Since January of this year, seven occurrences involving students of Indian descent who were discovered deceased under varied circumstances including the death of Akul.