World News | Family Will Never Be Normal Again: Parents of Indian-origin Student Killed by Korean Roommate in US
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. The family will "never be normal again," said the grieving parents of 20-year-old Indian-origin student who was stabbed to death by his Korean roommate in their dormitory at the prestigious Purdue University in the US.
Washington, Oct 27 (PTI) The family will "never be normal again," said the grieving parents of 20-year-old Indian-origin student who was stabbed to death by his Korean roommate in their dormitory at the prestigious Purdue University in the US.
Varun Manish Chheda, a senior majoring in data science, was stabbed multiple times in the head and neck by his roommate "Jimmy" Min Sha, a 22-year-old cybersecurity major from Seoul, before he called authorities. Sha has been charged with murder in the killing of Varun, in what police called an unprovoked attack.
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Opening up for the first time since the gruesome killing of their son, the parents of Varun said that he was effusive, close with his family and wise beyond his years.
Although Varun was a busy college student, he always stayed in touch with his mom, dad and little sister. He'd call his mom between classes, share his Wordle score with her, and check in over text each morning and night, his mother, Seema Dedhiya, told ABC News in an interview last week.
On Varun's final night alive, Dedhiya said she texted her son her usual evening message: "Eat well, sleep well. ... Finish your homework."
"He said, 'Yes, Mom, I've done it all,'" she recalled.
She said Varun's final text to her at 11:45 p.m. read, "Goodnight, Mama." Early on the morning of October 5, two police officers visited the family in Indianapolis and conveyed the tragic news. Varun suffered multiple stab wounds in an "unprovoked" attack, according to Purdue University Chief of Police Lesley Weite.
His parents said they had no sense of problems with Varun's roommate and their son rarely mentioned him. They described Varun as a peacemaker, which they said made his violent death all the more shocking.
Varun was a minimalist and environmentalist. He never asked his parents for money and insisted he didn't need a nicer car or nicer computer, they said. He was passionate about Taekwondo, strategy games and especially science, said his father, Manish Chheda.
Varun was recently studying medical genomics and "was even thinking maybe of following in my footsteps and becoming a physician," he said.
"How it would've turned out, we can only guess at this point," he said. "I think he would've been involved in ... helping people face-to-face or in a research realm." "I miss him terribly," Dedhiya said.
The father said he doesn't know when he'll "be psychologically ready" to return to his work as a doctor. "I need to be more focused than I am right now. We're gonna get help, we're gonna get counseling."
The family will "never be normal again," he said, but hopes they'll find a "new normal."
"You can't lose someone like this and ever get over it. But we have to try," he said. Sha has not entered a plea. As he headed to his first court appearance on October 7, Sha told reporters "I am very sorry" when asked if he had a message to the victim's family. Sha also said, "I was blackmailed," but did not elaborate.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)