Indian charged in Andhra student's murder in UK

Fri, May 9 10:27 AM

A 24-year-old Indian national charged with the sensational murder of Samrajyo Jyothirmai Vempala, a student from Andhra Pradesh at the Wolverhampton University, will be produced in the Birmingham Magistrates Court on Friday.

Vijaywada-origin Jyothirmai, 23, had succumbed to severe head injuries on Tuesday while the suspect Nagaraja Kumar Nalluri, also an Indian student, was found seriously injured in the same private accommodation where she was living in Handsworth, a suburb of Birmingham.

Nalluri was admitted to the City Hospital, Birmingham, and arrested soon after he was released on Thursday.

The West Midlands Police said that he has since been cooperating in the murder inquiry.

The motive for Jyothirmai's murder is expected to be revealed when the charges are read out in the court on Friday.

Jyothirmai was enrolled in a postgraduate degree in Health Sciences at the University of Wolverhampton, 11 km from Handsworth.

The university, which like many other British varsities maintains offices and agents in New Delhi and other parts of India to recruit high fee-paying students, is sending a representative to meet the family of the deceased student in Vijaywada.

Expressing the university's deepest sympathies, its marketing and communications director Ashar Ehsan said in a statement: "Feedback from fellow students and tutors indicate that she (Jyothirmai) was a very bright and enthusiastic student.

"She was a model international student, who will be missed by all, here at the University. We have offered our full support in this time of grief to the immediate family and have been in contact with the family to offer this support," he said.

Ehsan said that the university planned to hold a special day of condolence today in the presence of Mrs J D Pavel, Consul General of India in Birmingham, representatives of the European Telegu Association and members of the local community.

The statement said: "The circumstances of this tragic event that took place in Handsworth, Birmingham, in private accommodation, are currently being investigated by West Midlands Police, UK, and the University is fully cooperating with them."

The police, meanwhile, have discounted burglary as the motive behind the murder.

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