Amid multiple incidents of hate crimes against India reported from the United States, in a tragic incident another Indian-American man was killed and his wife was critically injured in a hit-and-run accident in Indiana state of the United States.
Anshul Sharma, 30, died on the spot while his wife Samira Bharadwaj, 28, was injured critically in the accident on Sunday evening. Both pedestrians were from Columbus city of Indiana, said the police.
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According to a local news report, a 36-year-old man, Michael Demaio, was arrested by the police. He was driving a red Chrysler minivan and hit the couple from behind near Four Seasons Retirement Centre in Columbus.
The accused later fled the scene.
Sharma was pronounced dead at the scene by a Bartholomew County Coroner while Bharadwaj was later transported to a hospital in Indianapolis.
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Demaio “failed several field sobriety exercises”, the police said. The minivan was found with substantial damage to its hood and a cracked windshield.
The accused, who is in now in a county jail, faces a number of preliminary charges, including failure to stop after an accident resulting in death, failure to stop after an accident resulting in injury, operating while intoxicated resulting in death and operating while intoxicated resulting in injury, said the report.
Meanwhile, family and friends of Sharma continued their efforts to take his body back to India and to support his wife, who was in a critical condition.
A spokeswoman of Cummins, a diesel engine manufacturer in Columbus, where Sharma worked as an engineer, said the company was in constant communication with Sharma’s family and providing support in efforts to return his body to India.