A 26-year-old man from Haryana's Jind district was shot dead by an American in California on Saturday after he objected to the man urinating in public.
The victim, Kapil, a security guard, was on duty when he confronted the accused outside the premises for urinating there, said Suresh Kumar Gautam, sarpanch of Kapil's native village Barah Kalan. In retaliation, the man shot him dead on the spot, he added.
Kapil, the only son of a farming family, had travelled to the US in 2022, allegedly through the "donkey route," crossing the jungles of Panama and scaling the Mexico border wall - a journey that cost his family around Rs 45 lakh. After his initial arrest, he was released through legal proceedings and had since been living in the US.
The bereaved family was informed of his death by a relative residing in the US.
"The entire village stands with the family," said Gautam, adding that the family plans to meet the deputy commissioner to request that Kapil's body be brought back to India. "We hope for the govt's full support," he said.