The parents of an 18-year-old Indian-American student, who was found dead outside the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) last week, have filed a complaint against the school's police for negligence.
After failing to get in touch with Akul B. Dhawan, an acquaintance reported him missing on Saturday at 1:30 am. Authorities recovered his body on the porch of a building close to the UIUC campus following nine hours of search.
The autopsy's initial findings indicated that Akul had hypothermia at the time of his death, according to the Champaign County Coroner. The Midwestern city has been experiencing below-freezing weather for the past few weeks.
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Preliminary report says ‘no foul play found’
According to the coroner's office, the preliminary report showed no evidence of significant trauma. "There was no foul play involved and the death is initially believed to be accidental."
Dhawan's parents have filed a complaint against the university's police department, accusing them of negligence in the way the search was conducted, reported The News-Gazette newspaper.
{{/usCountry}}Dhawan's parents have filed a complaint against the university's police department, accusing them of negligence in the way the search was conducted, reported The News-Gazette newspaper.
{{/usCountry}}Based on location-tracking information from their son's phone, Ish and Ritu said on Wednesday that Akul was located barely 400 feet from the place where he was reported missing.
“This is bizarre that a kid is never found who was just less than a block, like one minute away, sitting there, dead, frozen to death,” Dhawan's father told the publication. “Imagine as a dad and mom what’s going through in our mind. I visualize his every minute that my son froze to death on a university campus.”
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Akul Dhawan's parents seek answers
“We really need answers. What is the proof that they totally searched in this area, around the area they’re talking (about), this half-block? My kid would have been found," Ritu stated.
After Akul reported missing, school police "searched the area where the student was last seen, the student's residence hall and the likely path between the two locations, including the main Quad and streets." Police also looked into nearby hospitals and made phone calls to the student.
Dhawan’s parents, who live in California, said they met with top university officials while in town this week.
His uncle, Rishab Mehandru stated that in order to prevent others from going through the same pain, they would like to know more about the UI's search policy and whether there are any problems with its procedures.
Dhawan took admission in the University of Illinois' Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to study robotics despite his parent's resentment, who wished him to study closer to home in California.