Washington. The US city of Seattle has agreed to a US $ 29 million settlement with the family of an Indian student who lost her life when she was hit by a police officer’s speeding car. Let us tell you that student Jhanvi Kandula was hit by a police officer’s car when he was going at a speed of 119 km per hour in an area with a 40 km per hour limit to respond to a drug related call. The emergency lights of his car were on and sirens were also being used at intersections.
According to media reports, the City Attorney said that the death of Jhanvi Kandula is heartbreaking and the city hopes that this financial settlement will give some degree of satisfaction to the Kandula family. Jhanvi’s life was important. It meant a lot to his family, friends and our community. Kandula was studying for a master’s degree in information systems at Northeastern University’s campus in Seattle. Lawyers for Jhanvi Kandula’s family have not responded. Both the parties had filed a notice of settlement in the court last Friday. There were widespread demonstrations after Kandula’s death. Public outrage erupted when a body camera recording of a police officer surfaced, in which he was heard laughingly describing Kandula’s life as trivial and saying the city should just write a cheque.
Indian diplomats had also demanded an investigation into the matter. The city’s civilian monitoring authority found that the comments of the officer, a union leader, had damaged the credibility of the department and undermined public confidence. The officer was fired and has sued the city for wrongful termination. He said his comments were intended to criticize how lawyers would likely react to the death.
According to the report, the police department also fired the officer driving the vehicle. He was convicted of careless driving and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000. King County prosecutors declined to file serious criminal charges against him, saying it could not be proven that he knowingly disregarded safety. Approximately $20 million of the settlement amount is expected to be covered under the city’s insurance policy.