If the shocking death of their son was not enough, the family of Pavan Kumar, a software engineer who died in mysterious circumstances in the US, are finding it enormously difficult to get his body back to the country,
Pavan (26), working at Wellington in New Jersey, USA, was reportedly found dead a week ago. The family is grief stricken as they are unable to get his body back to the country. Pavan was employed with Cognizant Technologies for the last five years and was sent to the US for a project in February 2011. However, he was found dead about a week ago with local officials now saying that he may have died of drug overdose. He reportedly is a suspect in the death of a woman identified as Danielle Mehlman.
His father Anjappa said the family was shocked when the company officials informed them on July 20 that their son was dead. But they did not give him any more information about his son’s death, he said. According to Mr Anjappa, “There are rumors that he was in love with a girl there and she had died near a beach. The next day, he also committed suicide. We are still not sure about his death and even the date of his death is not known,” he added.
Pavan’s sister Gunasheela said: “My brother had worked really hard to become an engineer and was always a topper in class. On June 20, the HR officials of Cognizant Technologies in Bengaluru contacted us and informed that Pavan had committed suicide. The company did not give us any more information about his death and asked us to go to their office. Though my parents requested them to help us with the procedures to get his body back, they did not oblige. When we went to the office, the officials asked us to not reveal the matter to media”. Pavan’s brother-in-law Mr Gopalakrishna has requested the company and also Indian embassy to help them to trace the body of Pavan Kumar and get it back to the city to perform the last rites.
When contacted, a Cognizant spokesperson said the HR officials of the company had got in touch with Pavan Kumar’s members and informed them about his death. “We understand the loss and respect the emotional state of the family and will provide help to the family within the legal framework surrounding the incident. We are tying to get in touch with the authorities in the US and will make sure that his body is brought back”.
The family hailed from Pavagada and was residing in R.T. Nagar. Pavan Kumar pursued his BE from Sapthagiri College. Mr Anjappa was a Group-D employee in a government department and had taken voluntary retirement some time ago. Anjappa and his wife Rangarathnamma have two children - Pavan Kumar and daughter Gunasheela.