The city of Seattle in the United States (US) will pay USD 29 million (which is rougly Rs 262.7 crore) to the family of Jaahnavi Kandula, who was killed after being hit speeding vehicle that was being driven by a police officer, said an official on Wednesday (local time). The incident had happened in December 2023 when Kandula, a 23-year-old graduate student, was hit by the speeding vehicle while she was trying to cross a street in Seattle.
"Jaahnavi Kandula’s death was heartbreaking, and the city hopes this financial settlement brings some sense of closure to the Kandula family," said City Attorney Erika Evans in a statement. "Jaahnavi Kandula’s life mattered. It mattered to her family, her friends and to our community."
Kandula's killing
Kandula was working for a master's degree in Information Systems at the Seattle campus of Northeastern University. While she was crossing a street, Kandula was hit by Seattle Police Department officer Kevin Dave's police vehicle. According to the Associated Press (AP), Dave was driving as fast as 74 mph (119 kph) in a 25-mph (40-kph) zone after he received a drug overdose call.
The report claimed that the emergency lights of Dave's vehicle were on and the police officer was also using sirens at the intersections.
Massive protests
Kandula's death caused massive protests, particularly after a recording of another officer, Daniel Auderer, went viral in which he was seen joking that the Indian student's life had "limited value" and Seattle should "just write a check". "Eleven thousand dollars. She was 26 anyway," Auderer said, "she had limited value."
Later, Auderer had issued a clarification and said his remarks were misunderstood. "I intended the comment as a mockery of lawyers... I laughed at the ridiculousness of how these incidents are litigated and the ridiculousness of how I watched these incidents play out as two parties bargain over a tragedy," he had said.
Meanwhile, Dave in December 2024 had agreed to pay USD 5,000 fine, but he was fired by the Seattle Police Department in January 2025.
