'Would Have Killed Myself If Not For Him': Patients Mourn Dr Achutha Reddy

Kansas City: Achutha Reddy, a psychiatrist from Telangana who was stabbed and killed in the US, allegedly by an Indian-American patient, is being credited by those he treated as a lifesaver.

Dr Reddy, 57, was murdered in his clinic in East Wichita in Kansas on Wednesday night. Umar Rashid Dutt, 21, has been arrested for the killing. He was a patient of Dr Reddy's and was found in the parking lot of a country club with blood on his clothes.

"An office manager entered into the office and observed the suspect assaulting Dr Reddy. She attempted to stop the assault which allowed the doctor to flee the office," said, Lt Todd Ojile, a senior police officer. The suspect chased the doctor out of his office, and stabbed him multiple times, Ojile said, adding that the reason for the murder has not been ascertained yet.

A patient of the killed psychiatrist, Cecilia Smith, told a local news channel: "I tried killing myself, and if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have been here today."
 Donna Lloyd and her husband were treated by Dr Reddy for nearly two decades. "He was the kindest, sweetest most loving, caring doctor you would ever want to talk to," she said.

Dr Reddy, used yoga as part of his treatment.

In a statement, Dr Reddy's family said it "wants to thank each and every one that made his life a joy every day".

Dr Reddy is the second Indian killed this year in Kansas. Srinivas Kuchibhotla, a techie who was from Hyderabad, was shot dead in a hate crime in February.