Indian Dancer Killed in US: Fundraiser Launched For Amarnath Ghosh's Funeral

An initiative has been launched to raise funds for the funeral expenses of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancer Amarnath Ghosh, who lost his life in a shooting incident in Mississippi in the US.

"The loss of Amarnath has left us all devastated, and his absence is deeply felt within our Kuchipudi group. In light of this, we are reaching out to our community for support. Amarnath was a dedicated student of the renowned Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam Garu. He was pursuing his Master's at Washington University in St. Louis while serving as faculty at the Kuchipudi Art Academy, where he shared his passion and expertise, enriching our lives with his talent and dedication," the GoFundMe page, created to raise fund, said.

This incident garnered national headlines after actor Devoleena Bhattacharjee's social media post on platform X, where she tried to draw the attention of the Indian government to the incident.

"My friend Amarnath Ghosh was shot and killed in the St Louis Academy neighborhood, US on Tuesday evening. Only child in the family, (his) mother died 3 years back. Father passed away during his childhood," she stated.

The actress further added, "Well, the reason, accused details, and everything else are not revealed yet or perhaps no one is left in his family to fight for it except for a few friends. He was from Kolkata, an excellent dancer, was pursuing a PhD, and was taking an evening walk when suddenly he was shot multiple times by an unknown assailant. Some friends in the US are trying to claim the body, but there is still no update about it. @IndianEmbassyUS kindly see to it if you can. At least we should know the reason for his murder. @DrSJaishankar @narendramodi."

This incident adds to a string of deaths involving individuals of Indian descent in the United States. Since the start of the year, over half a dozen cases have emerged, highlighting concerns regarding the safety of Indians and individuals of Indian origin in the country.

In the recent past, over half a dozen cases of Indians and Indian-origin people have been killed in similar instances.