Tearful farewell to Srinivas

The last rites of Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was gunned down in a reported hate crime in Kansas in the US, were performed at the Mahaprasthanam crematorium here in Jubilee Hills on Tuesday.

Hundreds of relatives and friends, and even the general public, had gathered at the crematorium to have a last glimpse of the 32-year-old man, whose dreams to earn laurels in the aviation industry were nipped in bud.

While Srinivas’ father K Madhusudhan Sastry lit the pyre, his family members wept amidst slogans of “Srinivas Kuchibhotla amar rahe” and “Bharat mata ki jai”.

Around 12.30, after the traditional rituals at his residence in Bachupally, the mortal remains of Srinivas were loaded into the van and was taken to the crematorium. An exhausted Sunayana Dumala, Srinivas’ wife, almost collapsed as the body was being loaded into the van.

Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya, cine actress Jeevitha Rajasekhar and eminent educationalist Chukka Ramaiah attended the cremation and consoled the family members. Evangelist K A Paul also arrived and offered prayers. His dead body was brought here on Monday night and was kept for public view at his residence.