On Friday night, a doctoral student in the engineering program at Duke University was shot to death in his off-campus apartment (thanks, Zuni123). The parallels of this tragic crime to the LSU murders cannot be ignored; like then, our tip line is the conduit for confusion and frustration over another senseless murder. Via The Raleigh Chronicle:
The victim has been identified as Abhijit Mahato, age 29, a Ph.D. engineering candidate who was from India and was studying in the United States, Duke University officials said on Saturday afternoon.
“He was found by friends who came by the apartment to check on him Friday night,” said Kammie Michaels of the Durham Police Department. Mahato was pronounced dead on the scene when police arrived, say police.
Durham Police said they do not yet have a motive for the shooting. Their investigation is continuing…
Mahato, originally from Tatangar, India, was studying for an engineering doctorate degree focused on computational mechanics at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering. He was in his second year in the program, says the school.
Larry Moneta, Duke’s vice president for student affairs, said the university has begun “reaching out” to Mahato’s friends and to his family in India, as well as to Indian and other international students on campus. It is offering counseling services and has begun considering appropriate ways of commemorating Mahato’s life.
One way they didn’t commemorate it was by finding it a happy opportunity to test a school safety feature.
Here’s how the victim’s adviser, Tod Laursen described him:
“He made friends very easily and always had a smile on his face,” Laursen said through Duke University. “Our research team was particularly close to Abhijit. He was very well read in both poetry and literature, and enjoyed conversation with others about what they were reading.”
More about a stolen life:
On his website at Duke, Mahato said his hobbies included reading books, playing chess, and photography.
Before coming to Duke, Mahato worked for two years for the GE Global Research Center in Bangalore, India where he focused on finite element analysis, a computer-simulation technique used in engineering.
Mahato earned his mechanical engineering degree from Jadavpur University in India in 2001 and a master of technology degree from the Indian Institute for Technology in Kanpur in 2004.
Mahato was very proud of his Indian heritage and seemed to enjoy talking about his hometown.
“My upbringing was in Kolkata; the City of Joy, the city of intellectuals, and much much more,” said Mahato on his website at Duke. “My native language is bengali. We, Bengalis, have a very distinct and rich culture.”
Mahato’s website is here. May his memory be eternal.
Before you say something like this you should have proof.
Just look at the amount of media coverage the LSU killings have received, as compared to say.. this. And with intense media coverage tends to follow intense investigation.
I went to school in Philadelphia
just curious, Penn? Drexel?
243 · Pravin said
Pravin,
While I understand your sentiment and I endorse the idea of people standing up for themselves, I think maybe some perspective might be useful. I think you’d have to show a bit of compassion for the fact that it’s not easy for someone new to this country, who is not very familiar with the justice process, who’s unsure of who to turn to, far from family, and who’s lived most of their life not having to deal with crime on this level to fully fathom how it is that some people can allow themselves to be victimized. When my relatives from India came over to the U.S., one of the first things my father had me do was to explain to them where to go, where it was safe and what to do in certain situations. We lived in a shit neighborhood at the time and it was necessary. They also had another advantage, at the time, some people in the hood knew me and my family and knew we would stand up for our own. BTW, the cops, at that time, didn’t have a reputation for being very responsive. So I can understand why some might be reluctant to turn to the police.
If the graduate student doesn’t have a network or resources to turn to, they’re more likely to allow themselves to be victimized. If you’ve never seen the business end of a gun or have been surrounded by a bunch of menacing faces it’s very easy to say what to do when your not in that situation. IMO, the right move for most people when surrounded by a bunch of menacing threatening persons w/ or w/o a weapon is to turn over the cash. Now, if the numbers are equal and there are no weapons it might do well to stand you ground. But, I’m not advocating the std graduate student stand and fight but rather see what the situation is and analyze what their best options are for preventing and avoiding being the victim. That best option most of the time is calling the police.
Pravin does bring up a point that I have noticed is somewhat true, there is a perception among some non-desis that desis are meek. (at least in the US). I can’t count the number of times, I’ve been asked “are you really indian, you sure don’t act like one”, usually said in response when I would pop off at someone (non desi) or get in the face of someone who had “disrespected” me. (Thankfully, I grew out of that machismo phase – I think). The funny thing is the punjabis and other desis I lived near never seemed meek to me, so I didn’t understand where this perception came from. I really don’t know if that perception, desis are meek, is based in any truth but the fact that it exists, may allow for bullies and thugs to view desis as better targets. In that respect, Pravin is correct, the more desis can find ways to assert themselves and protect their life and individual rights, the harder it will be for others to take advantage of other desis. I’m not sure, however, if it would have done anything to change this tragic event.
The one thing I would advocate for anyone, desi or non-desi, male or female, is to learn some type of self-defense, be aware of your surroundings and walk with a bit of confidence. Self-defense does not mean you fight in every situation (especially where one is confronted by a weapon- there you give up the cash) – it just gives you an option you might otherwise be uncomfortable with and the fact that your not uncomfortable with it will be evident to others.
after all that has happened in this thread, if this is not repeated race-baiting and trolling, i don’t know what is. and again he calls people uncle toms except that he couches it in an analogy to the jewish defense league.
i am not one to ask for bans, idiots shouting in the public square do not bother me, but they do constantly derail threads. and comments like the one mentioned above are clear examples of malice explicitly intended for that purpose.
i don’t see this troll ever add anything constructive, but it never fails to use every thread to yell its anti-white racism, misogyny, and frothing bias against the south, including a very sad one about a poor student whose hopes have been crushed and his family shattered by his death so far from home.
i don’t comment much, and i am not going to respond further to this troll, but i would be curious to understand why the troll has been granted such a long leash.
is to learn some type of self-defense,
Krav Maga is a pretty good one for self defense, also, there’s Hapkido for grappling situations, not to mention Savate.
but they do constantly derail threads. and comments like the one mentioned above are clear examples of malice explicitly intended for that purpose.
I offered an anecdote to respond to a claim of policemen not paying attention to incidents of violence directed against non-local people. I see it as telling the truth, if you see it as otherwise then make your voice heard. But don’t duck and dodge under the guise of “trolling”
including a very sad one about a poor student whose hopes have been crushed
Since it concerns you so much to see a thread “derailed” to such a degree, I have personally written the mayor of durham and the gov of NC to urge a prompt and thorough investigation, sure it may not do or change much, but please don’t try and twist and turn statements you disagree with into any kind of disrespect for the deceased.
I firmly agree with what the first “longtime lurker” said, and am astonished the intern does not see the “uncle tom” comment above as grounds for some sort of action–are those not the kinds of “abusive” and “personal” flames threatened with deletion in the comment policy? The repeated thread derailing by this individual has a negative impact on what used to be one of my favorite blogs.
i forgot to mention one other thing in my previous comment, i will add that and bow out now. the troll also continues to perpetuate fights by selectively quoting the people who take issue with its positions. a case in point is its response number 256 to my comment on 254, where again it decontextualizes sentences from my entire post, removing the gratuitous references that it had made to blk history month and caucasian assailants, as well as the wdl, especially when it had been told repeatedly (on this thread and others) not to namecall people who disagreed with it as ut’s as well as not constantly bring up the hate crime bogey.
253 · Jangali Jaanwar said
I think Punjabi culture is the most martial out of all Desi subcultures. You also have to differentiate between DBD grad students and ABDs. Most DBD grad students in math/sci are sort of nerdy looking with thick glasses. Add the funny accent and naivete and they become conspicuous easy pickings for the thugs.
are those not the kinds of “abusive” and “personal” flames
I can quote equal “abusive” and “personal” flames directed at me until my fingers fall off.
especially when it had been told repeatedly (on this thread and others) not to namecall people who disagreed with it as ut’s
it didn’t namecall anyone, it’s (current) attacker had made that supposition to support the attacker’s argument. it is thankful the attacker is bowing out, otherwise the attacker might be engaging in what the attacker set out to stop itself.
You also have to differentiate between DBD grad students and ABDs. Most DBD grad students in math/sci are sort of nerdy looking with thick glasses.
All you ABDs, pull out those parents photos from 30 years ago.
Roger, I do not need any proof. My life experiences is all I need and I listen to other’s experiences. Granted all of this is either personal or anecdotal which is why I made it a point to say “quite a few” instead of “most” meaning I am not going to minimize the experience by saying there only isolated instances, but at the same time I will not stereotype every single cop out there. That is why I pointed out that there are still decent cops out there.
Also, to the others: I did not intend to mean the victim should have defended himself at that moment. I am talking about doing whatever to get the cops or even the college authorities to listen after the attack.
And yes, it is easy for me to comment because I have been there in different situations. I had a group of black punks trying to scare my white friend and when I faced them without blinking, they backed away. I was threatened with a gun by some person whose dealings I exposed, I was threatened by a pimp (typical stereotype, black guy with a caddilac and a fur coat and two hos next to him) because I made a joke about him after he disrespected my friends and I with some comment as we were walking by. I have walked in dangerous neighborhoods. People will look at your body language. If you show a little weakness, they will pounce on it. That is why I mentioned that the attacks on Latinos by black thugs was not a hate crime but they probably sensed an unwillingness of Latinos who live in those neighborhoods to go to the police. No, I am not suicidal. I do get scared out of my mind sometimes(I got lost in Memphis, and was in this maze of a ghetto with no seeming outlet and one big old Cadillac with no lights on started following me SLLOOOOWLY. After a couple of blocks, I was getting damn scared and was planning my exit out of there by driving on part of the pave3ment if necessary. Another time, I was looking for some place and it happened to be on the border of a shady neighborhood. I do know my limitations.
Jagali Janwar, Trust me. I would do it in a heartbeat. Like I said, I am not a gungho idiot who ignores the reality of a situation even if I don’t mind engaging in a fight if I have to. I do agree with most of your comment.
I think, visually, that difference is narrowing down.
Pravin does bring up a point that I have noticed is somewhat true, there is a perception among some non-desis that desis are meek. (at least in the US).
Trust me that not a problem in Canada.
So now the discussion comes down to neighborhoods and socio-economics.
Isn’t this the same sort of thing that parents fight when they don’t want their kids bussed to certain schools because of the drug use, crime and neighborhood?
When that was brought up in another thread, “RACISM” was screamed.
But let’s face it, without even bringing the topic of race up, there are neighborhoods that are more dangerous than others (obviously everyone here is agreeing on that), and those neighborhoods usually consist primarily of people from a certain race, likely because many of them cannot afford to move into safer and more affluent hoods. It’s not the race that is condemned, it’s the crime that takes place in the hoods the race lives in. It’s unfortunate that the entire race may get a bad rap because of that. However, there is an elephant in the room that cannot be ignored.
How many people are just crying to be able to live in those hoods? And how many people, once they make it out, go back?
Elephant. Room. Peanuts.
Actually no one objects to a family not wanting to live in a bad ghetto neighborhood even if it’s not PC to admit it. But to equate any black living in any neighborhood as a sign of a bad neighborhood is ridiculous.
Awesome! Come one bigot, come all bigots!
How about the gems from JGandhi where he politely claims that
Amol Palekar would be so proud to see his image still being carried on.
The fact is, the average American 14 year old could easily physically defeat the average DBD engineering student. The meek attitude doesn’t help either. That being said, I don’t think there is realistically much that a particular so-endowed individual can really do about it. And with a gun (as in this unfortunate case) all bets are off. So while I agree that timidly handing out $5 and $10 daily doesn’t help the situation, neither would aggressive action by people ill-equipped (mentally and physically) to offer it (unless it’s a matter of priniciple for them and they are prepared for the possible consequences). What is needed is more policing and stronger anti-crime measures. Easier said than done.
What he says is actually true. There is a trade-off…spend your entire childhood studying (and maybe playing some carrom and chess during your breaks), with no exercise, and you will end up physically weak. The typical ghaas-phoos Indian diet doesn’t help matters, and then the genetic component plays a role too. That’s OK though, depending on one’s priorities…I think most of them are happy with how they are. Even Abhijit was very proud of the intellectual aspects of being Bengali. People are a product of their culture and their upbringing.
IMO, the right move for most people when surrounded by a bunch of menacing threatening persons w/ or w/o a weapon is to turn over the cash
I agree completely.
So while I agree that timidly handing out $5 and $10 daily doesn’t help the situation, neither would aggressive action by people ill-equipped (mentally and physically) to offer it (unless it’s a matter of priniciple for them and they are prepared for the possible consequences).
If you are surrounded by thugs, being well eqipped mentally or physically is not going to be of any help. The best and the wisest option is to give up the money and walk away with your life and body intact. There is a little Goetz wanting to jump out in all of us but its best to keep your head down and walk away in situations like these.
Amitabh something is true and then there is a time and place for everything. As in the past, someone related to the victim may be reading the site and it is hardly helpful to read demeaning description of someone’s physical appearence. Also can you please qualify your anecdotes as such else back generalization with numbers.
The typical ghaas-phoos Indian diet doesn’t help matters, and then the genetic component plays a role too. That’s OK though, depending on one’s priorities…I think most of them are happy with how they are. Even Abhijit was very proud of the intellectual aspects of being Bengali. People are a product of their culture and their upbringing.
I am not sure about that. I am a physically big and tall guy and was brought up on a diet of beef/chicken/lamb. When I was in grad school, I was accosted at a gas station (a mile away from my school) by 5 big menancing thugs. I emptied my pockets in 1/10th of a second. This has nothing to do with vegetarian diets and lack of muscle mass.
brown, JGandhi’s description is not complete. He forgot to add that they smell of curry powder, wear double-thick winter coats, and shower once a week. Because the fact that he’s a DBD grad student is especially relevant here, as we all know, ABD and other grad students in top schools are revered by society for their physical prowess.
Amitabh, it’s a good thing you didn’t add solving the Rubik’s cube here, otherwise you’d have been resorting to the kinds of ridiculous stereotypes that belong in Revenge of the Nerds.
Because the fact that he’s a DBD grad student is especially relevant here, as we all know, ABD and other grad students in top schools are revered by society for their physical prowess.
That was actually very funny.
Apologies if I went too far. It’s frustrating to think of teenagers demanding money and DBD students passively handing it out. If I was in their shoes I might do the same, I guess. I remember being in Brooklyn years back, about 10 black teenagers started following me…they started throwing pebbles at my legs. I just kept walking. Eventually they stopped. In any case, all in all, it’s looking like DBD grad students go through more hardships in this country than is commonly realized. The only thing some of us are wondering about is how much their own attitude and demeanor contribute to the situation. Not that they can do much about it in any case.
It’s frustrating to think of teenagers demanding money and DBD students passively handing it out
Why is it frustating? Its the wise thing to do.
I wa actually robbed by some black guys in undergrad. They grabbed my laptop and my roommate’s laptops. Me and my roommate (he was American Born Chinese) chased the guys down the parking lot barefeet. After 2-3 minutes they threw the laptops on the ground so they could run faster. I bet the average student DBD wouldn’t have ran after the guys and if he did run he wouldn’t been able to catch them.
BTW – in my opinion its the student DBDs that are have the nerd look. I’ve met lots of Guju and Punjabi illegals working at some Guju/Punjabi business 80 hours a week for $300/week and they look much tougher.
href=”http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/004978.html#comment190872″>said
dude, have you seen my boyfriend? it’s only the gandhian values that daddy taught him that keep him from beating every goon who dare cast an unchaste look in my direction. in all seriousness, though, this sort of stereotyping is a red herring. it’s very difficult even for someone who is very physically adept to defuse a situation where they are being threatened by a gun. or when the numbers in the room are against you. but please persist in your implicit glorification of the all-american male*.
Good grief. Since we’re dealing in crude stereotypes. Maybe if Mr. Mahato had been allowed to live, he would have followed in the footsteps of that nerd Bill Gates and made billions, thus allowing him to shower some much needed charity (especially in the generous spirit department) on his allegedly muscular but certainly less gifted ABD bretheren and hire them as his bodyguards.
“i don’t see this troll ever add anything constructive”
Yeah, you’re right, good thing I layed off posting for a bit, otherwise, you know, the thread could’ve completely spinned off onto a tangent.
278 · JGandhi said
i bet you haven’t met my brother. race him, play a game of tennis with him, wrestle him, and then let’s see you do some NMR spectroscopy in the lab with him. seriously, what is the point of this anecdotal data? this does hit close to home for me, but regardless of the social and cultural context of those who die in unfortunate circumstances, one should be able to speak intelligently and sensitively about such incidents and their causes. please show some respect to the DBD students who may be visiting this site right now, mourning one of their own, and being forced to suffer your inane self-aggrandizing. you might be a modern-day amalgamation of bhima and hanumana, but please do something completely contrary to your uber-masculine tendencies – go open up a compendium of etiquette.
JGandhi,
I think for most part you are making up this nonsense despite repeated requests by other commentars to be civil and if you are in New York or Philadelphia area, I can arrange for you to meet some DBD grad students who may help the myths you hold so dear.
Keep wondering… but there won’t be any blog/post on sepiamutiny about anything negative on muslims/islam. But I am surprised that sepia/ANNA hasn’t yet blogged about 2nd murder, it invloves a “sikh” father killing his little girl, thats definetly something to blog about.
No 284 is not me, I think I will take Shodan’s advice and rechristen myself Umber Desi:)
NOT WHEN IT HAPPENS MORE THAN ONCE. You have to do something about it. Complain to the cops. Or report to the university and hope someone at least has a record of past crimes to aid someone in the future in making a decision where to live. No one is saying to become a Jet Li and beat the crap out of those thugs. And if you are lucky enough to have some tough friends, set a trap and beat the shit out of those thugs the next time they try it. OK, I would advise one not to resort to that last suggestion unless they are willing to risk something severe. But you get the point. There is a big difference between acting wisely in a sudden bad situation and being a punching bag for a bunch of bad guys. Sometimes one of those bad guys could lose their head and kill you even if you hand over the money. And this may have been the case here.
285 · brown said
awesome handle!
portmateau,
Thank you, although the credit goes to Shodan.
283 · brown said
I am simply offering explanations to why DBD students are so often the targets of crimes. Sorry if people find this offensive, I won’t make anymore comments on DBD demeanors. However I am not making up anything. Furthermore, no I am not going to meet you to fight it out. I don’t enjoy physical confrontations and I never said I did.
One word to all the DBD students out there. Just one word: Plastics.
Thanks a lot, guys, for regaling us with your stories of personal bravery. You have no idea how many DBD lives you saved today.
Brown, for a guy angry about stereotypes, you sure don’t mind painting SM with a broad brush.
Then stop talking.
Umber Desi – gotta love that Shodan-san.
JGandhi,
I was not suggesting a fight off, I was suggesting arranging a race 🙂 or a dance off with some of my DBD buddies:)
Funny – I think the perception of all desis (and Asians) as a whole (whether DBD or ABD) is as nerds, regardless of the fact that there are more than you’d think that grow up in tough neighborhoods. The very thought of a desi (or azn) from the hood is inherently hilarious to many, but especially to many ABDs (and I guess ABCs as well), as evidenced by the popularity of the MC Ludakrishna & Dumbass Co. videos. The fact there are moron desi teenage boys running around in the BMWs their parents bought for them and calling each other ni**a doesn’t help either (too many stories about this). Jangali – where did you first live when you moved here?
I don’t think it’s an issue of ‘nerdiness’ or not, but one of ‘street smarts.’ I guess in addition to there needing to be more info available about housing options for grad students, there also needs to be more people saying it’s ok go to the cops if you’re being continually harassed. (Though anecdotally- the police have generally not been helpful in my experience, in areas that aren’t Beverly Hills they don’t do jack).
Pravin – those are different browns.
(all browns… look same to me!)
HMF: where would one find a Krav Maga school outside of Israel except maybe in NYC? Admittedly it’s the only martial art I know of that trains people how to kill a group of armed attackers (preferably Arabs*), but to get to that level, one needs to spend a few years in Israel.
It doesn’t matter how big or tough you look or think you look, you’re not going to scare a group of thugs with guns. The biggest football player will just as easily hand over cash as a skinny engineering student. Also, what’s with the belief on this site that the police don’t pursue attackers of minorities? The white guys who attacked the Sikhs in Queens a few years back all got prison sentences if I’m not mistaken (I’m too lazy to pull up the article). Looks like the police didn’t rush to protect their white brethren from the smelly immigrants :gasp:
*Before people start flaming me as a callous racist and such, this is somewhat of an inside joke among Israelis regarding Krav Maga training in the IDF which especially focuses on killing heavily armed Hezbollahis or Hamasis.
281 · HMF said
Or, to paraphrase, “Yay, I finally found people on this thread who have managed to rival my perennial idiocy and threadjacking on all posts.”
I guess nothing is so serious that it cannot be used to advance whatever crackpot “theories” you want to posit: that DBD students are emaciated wimps who never see the sun (what sort of comment is this, and what are “DBD demeanors”?), or that all whites are apologists, or that any crime in the south is most likely a hate crime, and so on.
sakshi and WGiiA, well said!
Umberdesi, my mistake, regarding the confusion on the two browns.
296 · Johnny Valker said
I have seen them in way-out suburban Houston, among many other places. Your assumptions don’t seem to last long around these parts.
Been there, done that.
Thank you Nala, Pravin, I mentioned in 285 that we are not the same person, it should be easier going forward as I am rechristened:)