Telangana student's family turns to crowdfunding to get body back to India

Hyderabad: The family of 26-year-old techie Sharath Koppu, who was shot dead in a restaurant in Kansas City, US, have raised over USD 50,000 in just a short span of time to bring his body back to India. 

Koppu's relatives began a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe after they heard about the tragic news. They managed to collect USD 25,000 in just the first three hours to pay for the body to be taken back to his hometown in Telangana's Warangal.

Raghu Chowdavaram, the victim’s cousin, wrote, "This could have been another beautiful life story if NOT came abruptly to a closure. Little did anybody know that life is about to take a big unfortunate turn on a fateful day of July 6th 2018."

The goal of the campaign was to raise approximately USD 40,000 and Koppu's cousin managed to get over USD 50,000 in less than 15 hours since the incident. 

Also Read: Telangana student shot dead in US eatery; suspect caught on CCTV

Koppu's parents had approached External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Telangana minister KT Rama Rao for assistance. 

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj offered her condolences and promised to provide the required assistance to the techie's family.

Sharath Koppu, a student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, was fatally wounded in the shooting at a restaurant called J’s Fish and Chicken Market on Friday. 

Kansas was in the news last year when city-based techie Srinivas Kuchibotla was shot dead by ex-US Navy veteran Adam Purinton in a hate incident at a pub in Olathe.