No cause given for 3 of the deaths.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW YORK: Aniesh Patel, a 22-year-old fourth-year student in the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy (EMSOP), died on January 13, marking the fourth Indian American student of Rutgers University in New Jersey to have died in the last four months, and the eighth student overall from the university in that period.
Patel’s cause of death is currently being withheld, reportedly at the behest of his family, reported The Daily Targum.
Patel’s best friend, Diana Destin, was quoted as saying Patel, a graduate of Methacton High School from Norristown, Pennsylvania, died unexpectedly.
“He had actually just texted us [on the] Tuesday of his passing,” said Destin, a fourth-year student in EMSOP. “Some of my friends were already in New Brunswick saying they missed him … [Patel] texted everybody back saying he missed them too and couldn’t wait to come back.”
Destin, Patel’s closest friend since their first year of college, said they met for the first time on their second day of school.
“He was a very kind, considerate person,” she said. “One of the nicest things about him was that he was very carefree, very chill. Everyone says that — everyone that ever met Aniesh said he was so chill.”
Outside of the classroom, Patel was a big movie buff, Destin said. He loved the classics — Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” and David Fincher’s “Fight Club” were two of his favorites, she added.
He was also a supporter of insect lives. During their first year in college, the first floor of their residence hall experienced a ladybug infestation. When Patel came downstairs, Destin and her friends expected him to save the day. Instead, he asked his friends to spare the bugs’ lives “because they were innocent.”
Patel’s death marks the eighth student death since September. He follows the deaths of students Caitlyn Kovacs, Darsh Patel, Paul Kim, Neha Musipatla, Michael Murray, Billy Roy Ouch and Maneesha Singh.
Darsh Patel died tragically after being mauled by a bear last September 21, 2014, at West Milford’s Apshawa Preserve, where he had gone hiking with some friends.
Neha Musipatla, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student and Piscataway, NJ, resident, was declared dead on December 8. The cause of her death was not released by the university.
Rutgers Business School student Maneesha Singh passed away on December 30, according to an email sent by Rutgers-New Brunswick Chancellor Richard Edwards.
After transferring from Santa Rosa Junior College in California in 2011, Singh attended Rutgers to pursue an accounting degree in the Business School, New Brunswick Today.
The email did not state the cause of her death, but Edwards expressed his deepest condolences to the Singh family.
“Our community is saddened by Maneesha’s passing, and we offer our thoughts and prayers to her family and friends,” wrote Edwards.