Indian community prays for recovery of shooting victim  - Lone survivor is a member of Hindu temple

Author: Gary Rotstein
Publication: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Date: May 1, 2000

Ethnic hatred carried by shooting suspect Richard Baumhammers is apparently what put bullets into the bodies of two of their Indian brethren in Scott on Friday, critically wounding grocery store manager Sandip Patel and killing one of his customers, Anil Thakur.

"By and large, our experience here is very good, and we don't have anything of this kind in our minds," said Dr. Krishana Aggarwal of Weirton, W.Va., a Sunday school teacher at the Monroeville temple. "These things are bound to happen wherever you have human beings."

Some 400 people who crowded into a memorial service in the red clay house of worship prayed, chanted and sang in Hindi and Sanskrit for Patel's recovery, for Thakur's soul, for Baumhammers' own mind to heal and for harmony in the cosmos.

Patel, 25, of Plum, joined relatives as a member of Hindu Jain Temple in Monroeville after arriving about two years ago from India to operate one of three India Grocers stores owned by his brother-in-law. Thakur, 31, from Bihar, India, was an occasional visitor to the temple during a six-month work assignment in Bridgeville for his company, WideCom Group Inc.

Yesterday's hour-long service provided for shared condolence and support among people sitting shoulder to shoulder, cross-legged and shoeless on the floor of the spiritual home that helps keep them tied to the religion and customs of their homeland.

"When you have an adversity like this, it just brings the whole community together for support. People are calling in, offering whatever they can do," said Manohar Badlani, president of the temple. "[The temple's members] are the first generation of immigrants, and that makes the bonds closer together."

At the front of the temple, photos showed the smiling Thakur, a handsome man with a mustache, standing in front of the Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol during a recent trip to Washington, D.C.

Most of those present did not know any more of him because of his short time in the local area, but his boss described him as an "almost stereotypical" eldest Indian son in his dedication to supporting his family, meaning his retired parents as well as his wife and two young children.

Suneet S. Tuli, executive vice president of Ontario-based WideCom, which has a manufacturing plant in India and distribution center in Bridgeville, said he has been overwhelmed since Friday by the local community's willingness to assist him in the details of helping Thakur's family.

Thakur was a senior computer engineer here temporarily on a work visa while receiving specialized training, Tuli said. He was originally scheduled to return to India a week before he was shot, but his company asked him to stay longer for work related to some of the large office equipment that WideCom produces.

"The most difficult part was calling his family that night," Tuli said. "They don't believe that it's happened."

He said the parents want to see their son's body one last time before holding their own service on his behalf, and they aren't eating until they receive it.

Patel, who had planned to return to India soon to marry, is known in the local Indian community as a hospitable, hard-working operator of a store popular for the array of spices and ingredients called for in Indian dishes.

The visitors area for Mercy Hospital's intensive care unit has been crowded with well-wishers offering support to his sister, brother and parents since Friday. Patel's brother-in-law, Vijay Patel, was present at yesterday's service but declined to speak to reporters.

Sandip Patel remained in critical condition yesterday, and those in contact with the family said he was paralyzed from the neck down. Donations were being collected at the temple to help his family with the cost of his care.
 

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