The parents of Indian student Sudiksha Konanki, who went missing from a beach in the Dominican Republic on March 6, have said in an emotional announcement that they are coming to terms with the fact that she has drowned.
In a video, Ms Konanki’s father Subbarayudu can be seen fighting back tears as he says that authorities “on both sides”, presumably from the US and the Dominican Republic, have told them that the waves were very high at the time of the incident and that the person of interest in the case, 22-year-old Joshua Riibe, was not a suspect.
With his wife, Sreedevi, sobbing beside him, Mr Konanki says, “Both sides of the authorities have shown us how high the ocean waves were at the time of the incident and both sides of the authorities have clarified that the person of interest was not a suspect from the beginning.”
Wiping away a tear from his eye, he continues speaking but gets only as far as “It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart…” when his wife cups her face with her hands, sobbing louder, and turns away from the camera. Mr Konanki comforts her and pulls her towards him before saying, “…and a heavy heart that we are coming to terms with the fact that our daughter has drowned. This is incredibly difficult for us to process. We kindly ask you to keep our daughters in your prayers.”
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CNN has reported that the Konankis have asked for their daughter to be declared dead to “seek closure”.
Ms Konanki, 20, a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States, studied at the University of Pittsburgh. She went to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic with five friends on March 3.
Footage from March 5 shows her drinking at the bar of a hotel called Riu Republica before going to the beach with a group of people, including Riibe.
Ms Konanki was seen entering the beach at 4.15 am and all of her friends had returned by 5 am. Riibe, an Iowa resident and student at St Clou State University in Minnesota, told authorities that he had tried to rescue her after they were dragged in by a wave and she got tired of swimming
Riibe’s passport was confiscated by authorities in the Dominican Republic and he was interviewed for six hours, but he is not considered a suspect.
The request for the student being declared dead “supports the wishes of Ms Konanki’s grieving parents to seek closure in their request that the Dominican law enforcement authorities acknowledge the death of their daughter by accidental drowning,” the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, where Ms Konanki’s family lives, told CNN.