Washington, Sep 15 (IANS) A suspect who has been arrested over the murder of Indian psychiatrist Achutha Reddy in the US state of Kansas, was once sent to India to "straighten out", informed sources told the media.
The 21-year-old suspect identified as Umar Rashid Dutt, is being held in prison
on a $1 million bond after his arrest on Wednesday night shortly Reddy, 57, was
murdered in his clinic in East Wichita.
Dutt was a patient of Reddy's.
Dutt's neighbours and a former teacher on Thursday told local TV station KWCH
that although he was "kind and very quiet", he was also
"rebellious and involved with wrong company".
Ryan Schrader, who taught Dutt for three years in high school told the station
that he remembered discussions on him being sent to India as one of several
ideas to "get him on a better path".
The station did not say where in India he was sent to or when.
Schrader said that Dutt had differences with parents over his future and he was
not sure of going to college.
Dutt, who grew up in Wichita with his parents and sister, completed high school
in 2014 and did a few semesters at Wichita State University but did not
graduate.
"Sometimes he would be talking about smoking, partying and a lot or
drinking with his friends.
"There were often a lot of arguments between him and his parents like his
mom would walk by and see that maybe he wasn't paying attention so she would be
like 'Omar you need to focus, you need to really care about your
education'," Schrader told KWCH.
The neighbors described Dutt as "kind and very quiet", and those who
knew him said he was not violent.
Achutha Reddy, 57, is the second Indian
killed this year in Kansas. Another Telangana resident, Srinivas Kuchibhotla,
was shot dead in Olathe in February.
Media reports quoted the police as saying that the assailant repeatedly stabbed
the doctor after a conversation. The attack on Reddy began in his clinic and
ended in a nearby lane as the fleeing doctor was chased down by the assailant.
Police Lieutenant Todd Ojile said on Thursday that the office manager of
Reddy's Holistic Psychiatric Services heard a disturbance in the doctor's
office on Wednesday evening around 7 p.m. and saw the assault taking place.
The manager tried to stop the attack, allowing Reddy to flee. But Reddy was
chased by the assailant and killed in a second assault in an alley behind the
clinic, Ojile said.
He said Reddy had several stab wounds and was pronounced dead by the emergency
medical team that responded. Dutt was arrested near a country club a short time
later when a security guard alerted police to a man covered with blood in a
car, Ojile said.
Reddy's wife Beena is also a doctor. Fellow doctors and members of the
community described his death as a tragic loss to society.
Hailing from Nalgonda in Telangana, Reddy graduated from Osmania Medical
College in 1986. He moved to the US where he completed his residency in
psychiatry from the University of Kansas Medical School in Wichita.
Reddy was affiliated to various hospitals in the region and was known to be a
yoga and fitness expert. He expounded a system he called "Absolute
Yoga".
According to TV station KAKE, a Wichita State University spokesman said Dutt,
arrested for Reddy's murder, was a former student and was last enrolled in the spring
of 2015.
The Wichita Eagle newspaper quoted Denis Knight, president of the Medical
Society of Sedgwick County, as saying: "The Medical Society is heartbroken
over the loss of Reddy."
April Marie Schlenker from Kansas State University said: "Reddy was so
unique to anyone else I have ever met in the therapy/psychiatric world. He
connected almost instantly with people. His eyes held wisdom and secrets and
joy."
A patient, Cecilia Smith, credited him with saving her life. She told KWCH TV.
"I tried killing myself, and if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have been
here today."
Achutha Reddy was mourned by his colleagues, patients and community members who
remembered him as a man of compassion.
Donna Lloyd and her husband who were Reddy's patients for nearly 20 years,
said: "He was the kindest, sweetest most loving, caring doctor you would
ever want to talk to."
Reddy, who introduced yoga in his treatment, opened his Holistic Psychiatric
Services in 2003 after practicing in Wichita for over two decades.
In a statement, Reddy's family said it "wants to thank each and every one
that made his life a joy every day".
"Doctor Reddy was an amazing, compassionate man that was kind and loving
to anyone he met. He had a gift of knowing what each and everyone of us needed
and gave it freely," Brenda Trammel, a psychotherapist at his clinic, told
the daily.
While some posters demanded hanging of the killer or giving strong punishments,
a medical professional, Pedro Murati, said: "In these sad times we must
remember what Achutha would have wanted after such a horror."
"Projecting anger towards the mentally ill would be the last thing on his
mind."
In YouTube videos Reddy said that in addition to providing psychiatric care he
also treated chronic physical pain and expounded a system he called
"Absolute Yoga".
He said that he had suffered chronic back pain for 10 years and that led led
him to conduct research and develop the system which emphasised having the
"right mindset".
Fellow doctors and members of the community said his death was a loss to
society.