An Indian-origin doctor was stabbed to death in the state of Kansas, US, on Wednesday, September 14. He was 57. Dr Achutha N Reddy, a psychiatrist from the Nalgonda district of Telangana, was stabbed multiple times near the Holistic Psychiatric Services building on Carriage Parkway in Wichita at 7.22 pm local time. The police have now arrested a suspect on charges of first-degree murder.
The suspect has been identified as Umar Rashid Dutt, a 21-year-old who is said to be Reddy's patient. He was arrested from the Wichita Country Club's parking lot, where he was sitting with a lot of blood on him. Even though the arrest has been made, the motive of the murder is yet to be known.
"A short time after officers arrived, at approximately 7:40, they were dispatched to a suspicious character call at the Wichita Country Club," Hindustan Times quoted Lt Todd Ojile of the Wichita police department as saying. "The security guard at the country club observed an individual sitting in the car in the parking lot with blood on (him)."
Reddy and Dutt are said to have entered the club's campus together. The suspect then left and returned sometime later, after which he was seen assaulting Reddy. The doctor tried to escape the assault but Dutt is said to have stabbed him multiple times.
The doctor is survived by wife Beena Reddy, son Vishnu and daughter Radha and Laxmi. He was an alumnus of Osmania Medical College and moved to the US and completed a residency in psychiatry at the University of Kansas Medical School in Wichita.
Reddy began practicing in 1989 and ran the Holistic Psychiatric Services and also worked with several other hospitals and care centres. He was well known in the field and many of his patients and acquaintances took to social media to talk about what a wonderful doctor he was.
"I am completely devastated, not only was he my doctor but he was my friend he helped me through so many trying times I cannot sleep tonight I am up thinking about him and his family just sick to my stomach I have been with that man for six years and he helped me turn my life around, this is heartbreaking," Katie Rose said.
"I just saw this & I'm really devastated. I worked as a mental health case manager & if it is indeed Dr Reddy, Wichita has lost a great psychiatric doctor. Dr Reddy truly cared about his patients & I've only come across one or two that were so personally invested in making sure that their client's lives were better. He was always so positive & believed that each patient had the ability to recover and do anything they set their mind to do," noted Teri Jasper.
Even though many have said that he was a really nice person, his neighbours seem to have a mixed opinion. A neighbour told local TV station KWCH that while he was "kind and very quiet," he was also "rebellious and involved with wrong company."
Meanwhile, Reddy's murder has brought back memories of the killing of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead Olathe, Kansas, in February.
