Bodies of drowned Indian American techie and son to reach India on Tuesday

Nagaraju Surepalli was in the US for the last three years

The bodies of 31-year-old Indian American man and his 3-year-old son, who were drowned to death in the community pool at the Glens of Northville apartment complex last week, will reach India on Tuesday.

The victims were identified as Nagaraju Surepalli and his son Ananth. The incident came to light on early Wednesday morning, CBS Detroit reported.

Reportedly, an employee of the building called 911 at about 4.25 p.m. after seeing two bodies floating in the outdoor pool.

“The dad had taken the child to the pool. They were not intending to swim, they were just going to sit by the pool, and that was evidenced by what we found at the scene,” Novi Police Chief David Malloy told CBS Detroit, “and certainly what they were wearing. They were not dressed in swim attire.”

Police said that the boy fell into the deep end of the pool while riding a tricycle and his father must have jumped into the water to rescue him. However, both were inexperienced swimmers, and there was no lifeguard on duty.

They were pronounced dead at St. John Providence, Providence Park Hospital’s Novi campus.

Surepalli, who hails from Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur, was in the US for the last three years along with his mother, wife Bindu and son Ananth. He was working for Infosys as a software engineer.

The family’s friends and Surepalli’s Infosys colleagues started an online fundraiser for funeral expenses and send the bodies back to India. Within two days, they achieved the $150,000 goal. By the end of a week, a total of $181,684 poured in for help.

“Everyone who knows Naga would agree that he is one of the most jovial, honest, friendly person you would ever meet and always smiling,” the organizers remembered Surepalli.

The autopsy was done on Thursday. The organizers handed over the dead bodies to a funeral home on Friday. The bodies are expected to reach India by Tuesday.

“All formalities in funeral home are complete and received clearance from consulate. Mortal remains are airlifted to India along with Bindu accompanied by her relatives,” a recent update on the gofundme page read.