Telangana Judge’s Daughter Among 9 Killed In US Mall Shooting

Hyderabad: One of the 9 persons killed in the latest shooting incident in the USA was an Indian.

She has been identified as Aishwarya Thatikonda, daughter of an additional district judge of Telangana.

The 27-year-old Aishwarya had gone to a mall in Dallas (Texas) with a friend on Saturday when a man opened fire.

Video footage circulating online captured the shooter emerging from a sedan and indiscriminately shooting with a semi-automatic rifle.

Aishwarya, who would have turned 28 on May 17, had been living in the US for the last five years. After graduating in civil engineering from Osmania University, she completed her Masters in construction management from Eastern Michigan University in 2020. She was working as project engineer with a local firm in Texas.

A cousin of hers was quoted as saying that Aishwarya last spoke with her mother Aruna on the fateful evening and told her that she was going to the mall with a male friend. When her mother tried calling her back after learning about the shooting incident, there was no response and the phone was later switched off.

“She told me she had planned to go to that mall to purchase clothes and other items she wanted for the birthday. She was looking forward to celebrating after a long time. She also told us a number of Indian students had decided to gather there at the weekend for a gettogether, and the invite was circulated on social media,” said Aishwarya’s cousin, advocate T Srinivas Reddy, who practises at Ranga Reddy District Court.

By a cruel twist of fate, that celebration didn’t materialise.

“After years of hard work, she was finally settling down in the US… She had just started living comfortably and was eager for her birthday party,” Srinivas Reddy said, adding that her parents were looking to fix her engagement by October, and get her married in December.