At 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, during a housewarming party at their Santa Clara townhouse, Kalathat also known as Raghavan Devarajan, went on a shooting rampage killing six members of his family. The victims included his son Akhil Dev and his daughter Neha Dev, who are 11 and 4 years old, respectively. He also killed his brother-in-law, Ashok Appu Poothemkandi, 35, his brother in law’s wife, Suchitra Sivaraman, 25, and their baby, Ahana Ashok, 11 months. Kalathat also shoot his wife, who is the only survivor of the tragedy.
Kalathat’s wife, who will remain unnamed, survived after she managed to get out of their Santa Clara townhouse after being shot. She was found by their neighbors bleeding profusely and at that instance was still able to ask for help for the other members of her family.
When the police arrived at the scene of the crime, they found the victims lying at the kitchen and dining room, with their meal still set on the table. They also found the dead body of the killer inside a bathroom upstairs. Police reported that he committed suicide.
Ahana Ashok, the 11-month-old baby was able to survive some hours after the incident but died on Monday morning at the hospital she was rushed to.
According to reports, Kalathat has legally purchased one .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun in February and another one only a week ago, just before his in-laws came to their home to visit from India.
The police remain unsure of what pushed Kalathat to commit the crime but they are looking into family feud as a possible cause. The results of drug and alcohol tests are still to be obtained.
Kalathat is a US citizen whose family comes from southern India. He lived in Sunnyvale for 15 years and has worked for Microsoft and Sun Microsystems. In 2004, he became an engineering manager at Yahoo.
On Tuesday, a candlelight vigil in honor of the victims was attended by a hundred people, many of whom have never met the Kalathats. Flowers and teddy bears were also placed in a shrine at the Santa Clara townhouse.
Dirty US Indians
Indians change when they go to the US. I used to live in the US and I know. They cling to the US as for dear life though they go through a lot of loneliness during their early days. Their entire life is based on trying to please their employers so that they can stay in the US at least until they get their green cards. Finally they end up being self-centered egotistic mental wrecks. I have a brother in the US who is the personification of selfishness and who cares two hoots for his sisters. There are poorer men in India who treat their sisters like princesses. This guy, my brother who we once loved deeply knows nothing and cares for nothing except his job and his happiness. His name is Balraj another IITian- another mental wreck. All the same I cannot understand how this insane IItian US slave pig called Raghavan or whatever slave-like name he might have assumed could kill his own innocent children. Let him rot in hell. If my brother knows I posted something like this he would shoot me too. This is the US Indian, friends.
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