Probe launched after US cops caught joking over Indian student's death

In bodycam footage released on Monday by the Seattle Police Department, Officer Daniel Auderer laughed about the deadly crash of an Indian student.

A Seattle police watchdog agency has launched an investigation after bodycam footage emerged of a police officer joking about the death of a 23-year-old Indian student. 

The deceased student reportedly was struck by a speeding police patrol car earlier this year. She was identified as Jaahnavi Kandula. She was killed in January after she was struck by a police vehicle driven by Officer Kevin Dave. In a video released by the Seattle Police Department on Monday, another cop can be heard joking and laughing while discussing the accident.

In the clip, Seattle Police Officers' Guild Vice President Daniel Auderer, in a call with the guild's president, can be heard saying, "She is dead" before bursting out into laughter and calling Ms. Kandula "a regular person". He further said, through bursts of laughter, "Yeah, just write a check. Eleven thousand dollars." The clip ends with him saying: "She was 26 anyway, she had limited value", as reported by NDTV.

Indian Consulate in San Francisco termed the handling of Kandula's death in a road accident as "deeply troubling" and sought action against those involved in the case.

"We have taken up the matter strongly with local authorities in Seattle & Washington State as well as senior officials in Washington DC for a thorough investigation & action against those involved in this tragic case," the mission said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).

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