It’s been three years since a 23-year-old Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula died in Seattle. Her family in Andhra Pradesh is still numbed by the shock. Jaahnavi’s younger sister Meghana Kandula, 24, said the memories of her sister continue to haunt the family.
But, while the world moved on, the family is not even allowed to grieve in peace.
They are struggling to deal with constant questions from neighbours, relatives and acquaintances, who see them as heirs to a large settlement.
The Seattle city administration on February 12 announced a compensation of about Rs 260 crore to the family.
For background, Jaahnavi Kandula, a student from Adoni in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district, was pursuing a master’s degree in information systems at the Seattle campus of Northeastern University when she died in January 2023. She was fatally struck by a speeding police vehicle while crossing a street.
The vehicle was driven by Seattle police officer Kevin Dave. He was reportedly responding to a drug overdose call. According to details of the case, Dave was driving at 74 miles per hour on Dexter Avenue. The road with a speed limit of 25 miles per hour.
Another officer, Daniel Auderer, who was called to administer a drug recognition test to Dave, was later alleged to have played down the death.
Body camera footage reportedly captured Auderer telling Seattle Police Officers Guild president Mike Solan that Kandula’s life was “of limited value”, calling her “an ordinary person”, and suggesting the city should “just write a cheque”.
Following the controversy, the Seattle Police Department dismissed both Dave and Auderer.
Meghana said she first confronted the issue of racism after her sister’s death. She reportedly questioned whether authorities would have reacted the same way if an American citizen had died in a similar accident.
The Kandula family now lives in a modest one-storey house in Adoni named Jaahnavi’s Smriti Aavas. The house was built using funds raised through a GoFundMe campaign organised by Jaahnavi’s friends and well-wishers.
Meghana said her sister had always dreamed of owning a home with modern furniture and often browsed furniture designs even while the family lived in rented accommodation.
The household currently includes Meghana, their mother G Vijayalakshmi and their maternal grandparents, G Suri Babu and G Uma Devi.
Their father, Srikanth Kandula, died of cardiac arrest two days before the Seattle settlement was announced. He had earlier worked as a railway police constable. Although the couple had been living separately, they had not legally divorced.
Despite their separation, both parents had jointly filed the lawsuit against the Seattle Police Department and the city of Seattle. With Srikanth’s death, the compensation amount will be transferred to the mother.
Meghana’s maternal uncle Gundapuneedi Naveen Chowdari said the money could not bring Jaahnavi back but had established accountability. He said the family closely followed developments in the US through friends and relatives after the accident.
Chowdari also said that according to their understanding of the case, even a slight reduction in the vehicle’s speed could have prevented the collision.
Jaahnavi had travelled to the United States in 2021 on a student exchange programme. Her family had taken an education loan of Rs 60 lakh to support her studies.
Since the settlement announcement, the family said they have faced rumours and speculation in their hometown. Chowdari said false claims have circulated that the family has already received the money, invested it, or donated part of it locally. He also said there have been rumours about Meghana receiving marriage proposals because of the compensation.
The family reportedly said that none of these claims were true.
Future in limbo
Meghana said the years following her sister’s death had been extremely difficult. After completing a BBA degree, she stopped studying as she was overwhelmed by the tragedy and the legal case abroad. She said she had not thought about her own future for the past three years.
She described Jaahnavi as the warmth of the family and said her sister was cheerful, socially active and always hopeful.
The family keeps a diary sent by Jaahnavi’s classmates and friends in the United States, containing photographs and memories. Meghana said the pages included images of Jaahnavi’s life in Seattle, including activities such as kayaking.
Friends in Adoni remembered Jaahnavi as a friendly and genuine person who stayed connected with them through video calls after moving to the US. They said she often showed them her room, college campus and surroundings during those calls.
One friend in an interaction with a media outlet described her as someone who could be trusted with any secret and said she maintained that trust with everyone in her circle.
The family said attention from extended relatives and others seeking a share of the compensation has added pressure. Chowdari said people who had not been in touch earlier were now trying to reconnect.
The family has not yet decided how the settlement funds will be used. According to their estimates, about half the amount will go to lawyers who handled the case in 2024. The remaining sum, roughly Rs 130 crore, will go to Vijayalakshmi.
Modest background
Meghana said their family came from a modest background. Their forefathers were farmers, and their mother worked as a private school teacher earning between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 a month. She said people now assume they have become wealthy without recognising that the money came at the cost of her sister’s life.
Friends of the family said the settlement has brought turmoil rather than closure. They said several people were trying to claim credit for the legal outcome and that maintaining privacy in a small town was difficult.
According to another report, Seattle city attorney Erika Evans said after the settlement that Jaahnavi Kandula’s death was heartbreaking. The city hoped the financial agreement would bring some sense of closure to her family. Evans added that Jaahnavi’s life mattered to her family, friends and the community.
People close to the Kandula family said the legal fight had been isolating. They said the family waited for two years before filing a lawsuit, hoping the city would offer compensation on its own.
When that did not happen, the family filed a $110 million (about Rs 996 crore) wrongful death lawsuit in 2024. According to friends, the city was not willing to pay even the insurance amount until the case was filed.
Chowdari said the family would ensure that neither relatives from the mother’s nor the father’s side take advantage of the situation or deprive Meghana and her mother of their rightful compensation.
There was a time she aspired to go to the US for a better life, following her sister’s path. She said she is no longer certain about that plan. She does not think she will ever be the same person again.
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