HYDERABAD: “Violence cannot be the answer to violence,” said the kin of Sharath Koppu as the US police authorities announced the death of a suspect involved in the killing of the 25-year-old resident of Warangal in Kansas City in the United States of America. Koppu, a student at the University of Missouri, was killed on July 6 and was brought back to the country with the help of the central and state governments, and the US government on July 11.
On Sunday night, a ‘person of interest’, identified by the Kansas City police, was shot dead in a long-drawn gun battle in which three police officials were also injured. Another suspect was taken into custody.
“We are happy that the suspect who killed Sharath is dead but he should have been captured and put in prison in rigorous conditions,” Sharath’s uncle Prasad Koppu told Express on Monday. “Though the governments helped us with paperwork in getting his body back to the country, there was no monetary support from them. We spent Rs 30 lakh to bring the body back,” he said.
Shivudu, another uncle of Sharath, rejected the idea that justice was met, saying it did not matter anymore. “Sharath is dead. Nothing could ever change that,” he lamented. However, both Prasad and Shivudu are awaiting official intimation from US authorities on the suspect’s death. “We came to know of it from news reports,” they said.
Koppu’s death exposed the lax gun laws in the USA, which has been in the spotlight since the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting which claimed the lives of 17 students. The incident had sparked a countrywide outrage and demand for stricter gun laws in the country. Slamming USA’s gun laws, Prasad said, “In the future, awareness sessions should be conducted for US-bound students to enable them to protect themselves when faced with similar violent situations which are frequent in that country.”