According to Atlanta Black Star, a witness’s video captured Dasaur exiting his black Honda and approaching the driver’s side of the white Chevy with a gun in his right hand. He punched the door and yelled at the driver, “You wanna play with me?” The Chevy driver then extended his handgun out of the driver’s side window and shot Dasaur three times. The shooter remained in his car, and Dasaur was pronounced dead at the scene when first responders arrived. Emergency medical responders transported Dasaur to a hospital, where he later died.
“We were so in love and had many plans for the future,” Gavin’s wife Cinthya Viviana Zamora told the Indianapolis Star, adding that they had recently married. “We wanted to start a family, enjoy our honeymoon, and travel all over the world.”
Gavin’s family, including his father Pawan Dasaur, a retired insurance company employee, and his sister, a software engineer in the US, are seeking justice and urging the Indian government to address the matter with US authorities.
Viviana Zamora, Gavin’s widow, described him as a hardworking man who always went out of his way to help others and wanted to provide for his family. She condemned the shooting, expressing her deep sorrow and calling it a tragedy that he was murdered in cold blood.
What we know about Gavin Dasaur:
Gavin Dasaur, a 29-year-old comes from Agra in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Agra is most famous for hosting the Taj Mahal. He had recently married Cinthya Viviana Zamora, a woman of Mexican descent, just 18 days prior to his untimely death. Gavin was known for his exceptional educational background, having attended St. George’s College and graduated in science from St. John’s Degree College in Agra. He moved to the US in 2016 to pursue a diploma in automobile engineering and was involved in the transport business in Indiana.
Recent Deaths of Indians in America
In recent months, there has been a troubling series of deaths among Indian nationals in the United States:
- Uma Satya Sai Gadde, an Indian student in Cleveland, Ohio, was reported dead by the Indian Consulate. The circumstances of his death are under investigation.
- Amarnath Ghosh, a 34-year-old classical dancer, was shot and killed in St. Louis, Missouri, in February. The homicide investigation is ongoing.
- Vivek Taneja, a 41-year-old IT executive, died from injuries after being struck outside a restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia, in February. Charges are pending against an unidentified suspect.
- Shreyas Reddy Beniger, a 19-year-old student at the Lindner School of Business in Ohio, was found dead in February. No foul play is suspected.
- Neel Acharya, a 19-year-old student at Purdue University, was found dead on campus in January. The cause of death was asphyxia, with contributing factors of cold exposure and ethanol intoxication.
- Akul Dhawan, an 18-year-old student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was found dead in January, with hypothermia listed as the cause of death. The Indian-American student died of hypothermia following ‘acute alcohol intoxication and prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures, which significantly contributed to his death’.
These incidents have raised concerns within the Indian community about safety and discrimination in the US. The Indian Embassy has held virtual sessions on wellbeing and maintaining connections with the diaspora to address these issues.