$25,000 in three hours, Telangana student’s kin raise money via crowdfunding to bring body home

The relatives of Sharath Koppu, the 26-year-old student from Telangana who was shot dead by a suspected robber at a restaurant in Kansas City, are raising money through crowdfunding to bring his body back to India.

The relatives of Sharath Koppu, the 26-year-old student from Telangana who was shot dead by a suspected robber at a restaurant in Kansas City, are raising money through crowdfunding to bring his body back to India.

Sharath Koppu was pursuing his masters in software engineering at University of Missouri. (ANI/Twitter)

Raghu Chowdavaram, the victim’s cousin, created a GoFundMe account on Saturday to collect money to pay for the body to be taken home. It raised $25,000 in three hours.

Chowdavaram wrote about him, “He had the same dreams like everyone else to make it big in the land of opportunity. He had a great sense of humour, and always made people laugh and was always eager to lend a helping hand.”

He added, “Little did anybody know that life is about to take a big unfortunate turn on a fateful day of July 6, 2018.”

Koppu was studying at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, whose chancellor C Mouli Aggarwal is also of Indian descent.

“I wish to share my deepest sympathy and condolences with the family and friends of Sharath Koppu, a UMKC student who fell victim to senseless violence,” he wrote on Twitter. “Sharath and I share an Indian heritage, but all of us at UMKC share in the grief such tragedies bring.”

Koppu’s father Ram Mohan, who is employed in BSNL, had appealed to foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and Telangana’s NRI minister KT Rama Rao to help in bringing the body home.