Sushma Swaraj's responsiveness is much appreciated on social media (File Photo)
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today tweeted, saying she had spoken to the families of two Indian-origin men, who became victims of alleged hate crimes in the US. In a series of tweets, Ms Swaraj expressed pain over the killing of Harnish Patel, a businessman who was killed in South Carolina last week. The other man, Deep Rai, had been injured when a masked man shot at him, and is currently recuperating.
Deep Rai was sustained an injury in his hand when a masked gunman opened fire at him in front of his house in Kent city in Washington, after telling him to "
Go back to your own country". Ms Swaraj said she had spoken to his father. The minister also expressed condolences to the family of
43-year-old Harnish Patel, who had been shot outside his home in Lancaster when he returned from his shop late on Thursday evening. The investigation in the case is in progress she said.The attacks come days after President Donald Trump said that the US condemned as "hate and evil" the
killing of
Srinivas Kuchibhotla. The Indian engineer was shot dead at a pub on February 22 in Kansas by a white man who screamed, "Get out of my country".
Ms Swaraj, whose responsiveness is much appreciated on social media, had sent a personal message to 24-year-old Ian Grillot, who was injured while trying to intervene during the shooting, which took place at a bar, and wished him a speedy recovery. "India salutes the heroism of Ian Grillot! Best wishes for a speedy recovery," she had tweeted. Mr Grillot has since been released from the hospital.