Navam Kaul and Malaika Chitre, both 24 and from New Jersey, were longtime friends who graduated from Rutgers University in 2024. Their lives were cut short when they were fatally struck by a subway train in Manhattan, New York early Sunday.
Who was Malaika Chitre?
Malaika Chitre was from Dayton, New Jersey. After graduating from Rutgers in 2024, she started working as a quality operations specialist at Acadia Pharmaceuticals in Princeton, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She had also recently started studying for a doctorate of pharmacy at Temple University in Philadelphia.
During her time at Rutgers, Chitre was the scholarship coordinator for the Omega Phi Alpha National Service Sorority. She also worked as the public relations director for the Ashley Lauren Foundation, according to the Daily Mail.
Who was Navam Kaul?
Navam Kaul was from Sayreville, New Jersey. He worked as a financial data analyst at Bloomberg in New York City for about a year and a half, according to the Daily Mail.
Kaul's LinkedIn profile showed that he graduated from Rutgers in 2024, like Chitre.
{{/usCountry}}Kaul's LinkedIn profile showed that he graduated from Rutgers in 2024, like Chitre.
{{/usCountry}}As per Daily Mail, Kaul's parents moved to the US from Nepal about 30 years ago.
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How did Kaul and Chitre know each other?
Kaul and Chitre met at Rutgers and were part of the same social circles, despite studying different majors. They were also part of the same South Asian friend group.
Rajnikant Pipalia, whose son was a close friend of Kaul, told the New York Post that the two had grown up in the same social world.
“They (Kaul and Chitre) grew up in the same world,” Pipalia said. “They’re all part of the same friends circle, the same South Asian group hanging out together, enjoying the same festivals.”
Pipalia said Kaul often visited his home and that he had last seen him about a year ago.
“They all did college very well, studied, moved on to Fortune 500 companies,” Pipalia said.
Speaking about Kaul, Pipalia added: “There’s nothing in his life that would make him do anything stupid."
What happened to Kaul and Chitre?
Kaul and Chitre were killed after a Number 4 train struck them at Canal Street station in lower Manhattan at about 3:15am Sunday.
A video showed the pair sitting together on the subway tracks as the train approached. The train driver tried to use the emergency brakes, but it was too late.
According to police sources cited by the New York Post, investigators are looking into whether either Kaul or Chitre was impaired by drugs or alcohol.
Investigators have not ruled out suicide, but no suicide note was found. According to the New York Post, police sources said Kaul may have fallen or gone onto the tracks, prompting Chitre to go down to help him. She appeared to try to pull him toward her before the train struck them. It remains unclear why the pair appeared to be sitting calmly on the tracks before the train arrived.