The parents of an 18-year-old Indian-American student who was discovered dead outside the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) last week have filed a lawsuit against the school’s police for negligence.
After failing to contact Akul B. Dhawan, an acquaintance reported him missing on Saturday around 1:30 a.m. After a nine-hour search, authorities found him dead on the porch of a building near the UIUC campus.
According to the Champaign County Coroner, the initial findings of the autopsy suggested that Akul died from hypothermia. The Midwest city has been suffering below-freezing temperatures for the past two weeks.
Preliminary study states ‘no foul play found’
According to the coroner’s office, the preliminary report revealed no signs of substantial 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 incompetence in searching, according to The News-Gazette.
According to location-tracking data from their son’s phone, Ish and Ritu alleged on Wednesday that Akul was within 400 feet from 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 every minute that my son froze to death on a university campus.”
Akul Dhawan’s parents want answers
“We really need answers. What is the proof that they 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 students.
Dhawan’s parents, who live in California, stated that they spoke with top university officials while in town this week.
His uncle, Rishab Mehandru, stated that to prevent others from going through the same ordeal, they would like to learn more about the UI’s search policy and any issues with its procedures.
Dhawan enrolled in the University of Illinois’ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to study robotics, despite his parents’ objections that he study closer to home in California.