#Kansasshooting : Adam Purinton gets life imprisonment for murdering Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla

Kansas, May 5: Finally, the soul of Srinivas Kuchibhotla would have got peace today as his murderer was sentenced to life imprisonment a US Court. Notably, 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an engineer hailed from Hyderabad was shot dead in a racially motivated hate crime at a bar in Kansas city of the United States in February last year.

 

A federal judge in Kansas sentenced Adam Purinton, 78 years of imprisonment after he was convicted into the charges of murdering Kuchibhotla. According to the decision of the US court, a 52-year old US Navy veteran would not be eligible for parole until after he turns 100.

However, Adam Purinton gets life imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to the charges of murdering Kuchibhotla in March this year. Purinton is also facing federal hate crime and firearms charges, which could later result in the death penalty.

Dumala, a wife of India techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla while expressing satisfaction over the decision of US high court said, “Today’s sentencing in the murder of my husband will not bring back my Srinu, but it sends a strong message that hate is never acceptable.” “I want to thank the District Attorney’s office and the Olathe police for their efforts to bring this man to justice,” she added.

In February last year, Purinton, yelled, “Get out of my country,” and opened fire on Srinivas and his friend Alok Madasani, 32, and Ian Grillot, 24 while they went in the Olathe bar to take a drink in Kansas. Srinivas Kuchibhotla succumbed at the hospital while two others sustained minor injuries. Kuchibhotla and Madasani were targetted after Purinton thought they were the Middle Easterns.

As soon as this unfortunate incident happened, Indian consulates at Houston reached the spot and took the stock of victims and asked US agencies to take appropriate action against the shooter. While all the Indians residing in the United States were shocked by this horrifying incident and were afraid too of getting victimized of such incidents.

Kuchibhotla is survived by his wife, Sunayana Dumala, who is also working in a technology company in Kansas. Kuchibhotla was an aviation engineer at Olathe-based technology company Garmin. He graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University with a bachelor of technology degree in electrical and electronics engineering in 2005 and did his master’s from the University of Texas-El Paso.

After this incident, US President Donald Trump in his first address to the US Congress vowed to make ‘America great again’ and also broke his silence on the Kansas bar shooting and condemned the killing of Indian techie Srinivas.

Importantly, the number of hate crimes in the US was tripled in the year 2016, from just 34 incidents in 2015 to 101, according to The Independent. Further, latest FBI statistics depict that hate crimes against Muslims rose 67 percent in 2015, the same year Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign.