Indian-origin doctor Achutha Reddy was stabbed repeatedly by a patient. (File Photo)
Highlights
- Psychiatrist Achutha Reddy found with multiple wounds in Kansas
- 21-year-old man arrested, cops believe he was a patient of Dr Reddy
- 57-year-old Dr Reddy, father of three, is from Telangana's Nalgonda
A 57-year-old doctor from Telangana was stabbed to death at his clinic in Kansas, US, on Wednesday.
Achutha Reddy, a psychiatrist, was found with multiple wounds in an alley behind his clinic in East Wichita. One of his patients, a 21-year-old Indian-American, has been arrested and charged with first degree murder.
This is the second killing this year of an Indian where
Srinivas Kuchibhotla, also from Telangana, was shot dead in February.
Reports quoted the US police as saying that the attacker, identified as Umar Rashid Dutt, "repeatedly stabbed the doctor after a conversation". He allegedly chased the doctor, who tried to get away. The police received a call around 7.20 pm.
Dutt was found by the police at a country club after a security guard reported a suspicious person sitting in a car in the parking lot with blood on his clothes. Reports suggest his mother is from Hyderabad and his father, from Bengaluru.
32-year-old techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla was shot dead at a Kansas bar in February.
Dr Reddy, besides running his Holistic Psychiatric Services clinic, was affiliated to various hospitals in the region and was known to be a yoga and fitness expert.
The father of three was from the Nalgonda district and graduated from the Osmania Medical College in 1986. Three years later, he completed his residency in psychiatry from the University of Kansas Medical School in Wichita. After practising for more than two decades, he started his clinic.
Dr Reddy's wife, Beena Reddy, is also a doctor. Fellow doctors and members of the community described his death as a tragic loss. A patient, Cecilia Smith, credited him with saving her life in an interview to a television channel. "I tried killing myself, and if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have been here today," Cecilia Smith told KWCH TV.
The Wichita Eagle newspaper quoted Denis Knight, president of the Medical Society of Sedgwick County, as saying: "The Medical Society is heartbroken over the loss of Reddy."
In YouTube videos, Dr Reddy said he also treated chronic physical pain through a system he called "Absolute Yoga".
In February, Srinivas Kuchibotla was killed by a man who shouted: "Get out of my country". The police say Dr Reddy's killing does not appear to be a hate crime.