By IANS
Baton Rouge : The two slain Indian doctoral students at the Louisiana State University (LSU) are remembered by the campus community of students and teachers as likeable friends and helpful teachers who will be sorely missed.
Many in the community have shared their memories of Komma Chandrasekhar Reddy and Kiran Kumar Allam with the university student paper, The Daily Reveille, despite the end of semester exams.
Reddy and Allam, both from Andhra Pradesh, were found dead in their LSU apartments at Baton Rouge Thursday night.
“Reddy was a proper gentleman – he was very soft spoken. Allam was fun loving – he was always excited every time you saw him,” said Pratik Dhar, a biology teaching assistant and friend of the two.
Early this year, Reddy returned to India to get married. Students in his class said they used to tease him about life as a newly wed.
“He was shy, but you can tell he was really happy,” said Cori Giarrusso, a communication disorders junior. She said he would joke about how his wife was still learning to cook.
Close friends described Reddy as light-hearted and full of school spirit.
“Out of all my friends he was the most lively,” said his long-time pal, Praveen Aluri, calling him somewhat of a prankster.
Ume Segaram said Reddy’s laughter was contagious.
Mathew Gilbert, biochemistry graduate student, considered Reddy to be his “best friend”, but said he was unsure if Reddy would have said the same in return because he was a “popular guy”.
Gilbert said Reddy often tried to introduce him to Indian culture – something he was proud of and wanted to share with others. Reddy invited him to see Indian movies and offered him Indian food, Gilbert said, then made fun of him when it was too spicy.
Students remembered Reddy and Allam as dedicated teacher’s assistants who offered their time freely to help.
Reddy’s research was in protein crystallography. He was preparing to take the general exams for his doctorate programme.
“He made the classes fun,” said David Hargroder, former student of Reddy. “He made the experiments we had to do interesting.”
Allam was a teacher’s assistant in an organic chemistry class.
Said Danielle Ward, Allam’s friend and student: “Basically, the teacher’s assistants taught us everything. Allam was the reason I passed the class. I was failing, and he made sure I got on top of it and didn’t drop.”
Department of Chemistry chair Andrew Maverick said: “We were lucky to have Allam in the department, and everyone was saddened by his death.
“You read about these things happening, but you never think it could happen to you or one of your own.”
He said the Chemistry Graduate Student Council was raising funds to support the families of the two murdered students.
The tragic nature surrounding the two students’ death has left many friends confused and angry.
“I can’t see Allam as having had enemies,” Ward said. “Everyone loved him. But the university is calling it a targeted attack.”
Allam’s friend and fellow teacher’s assistant for organic chemistry Rajib Mondal also could not fathom a motive, as suggested by chancellor Sean O’Keefe at a Friday press conference.
“It’s a very sad incident,” Mondal said. “And it’s really strange. I have no clue why someone would just kill him.”
About 300 campus-community members gathered Friday night to honour the two students.