Indian American IT Professional Murdered During Afternoon Run in Cary, N.C.
Selvaraju Vellingiri, a 55-year-old Indian American IT professional was fatally shot during an afternoon run in his neighborhood in Cary, North Carolina, Aug. 27. His body was found near a community pool.
Police are currently investigating the case. No arrests have been made yet. Police, however, note that Vellingiri was not targeted because of his ethnicity. They have ruled out domestic violence as well.
News reports say a neighbor who called 911, heard five gunshots in a row near the pool area and then saw a man run from a wooded area toward the tennis courts. “It was pop, pop, pop, pop, pop in a row,” the caller told the 911 operator.
Vellingiri’s murder is Cary’s first reported homicide in 2020. Federal Bureau of Investigation data shows that Cary had only one homicide in 2016 and in 2019. There were no homicides in 2017 and in 2018, and there were five homicides reported in 2015.
North Carolina Senator Wiley Nickel (Democrat, District 16) posted on Facebook: “My heart aches for the family of Selvaraju Vellingiri. He was murdered during an afternoon walk in his neighborhood in Cary. I encourage the Cary Police Department to act swiftly in this investigation. He leaves behind a wife and a young daughter.”
“Bound by their shared passion for Tamil, their native language, both of them engaged robustly with the activities of the Tamil Sangam, earning Selva many friends in Michigan, Florida, and in Cary”
Vellingiri’s funeral was held on Sept. 2 at the Brown-Wynne Funeral Home & Crematory in Raleigh, North Carolina.
An obituary on Dignity Memorial’s website describes Vellingiri, known to friends and family, simply as Selva, as a “lifelong committed and passionate walker.” Selva immigrated to Cary from Coimbatore in 1999. “His path led him from the evergreen hillside of Coimbatore where he was born, to the luscious greenways and parks of Cary, where he spent many days speed walking with his group of friends,” the obituary said. “No one, who met Selva can forget his quiet disposition. Behind that silent demeanor was a kind soul, who never refused anyone help and empathized with the lot of strangers and acquaintances alike.”
Vellingiri completed his engineering and MBA in India. He married “the love of his life,” Kalaiselvi Sulur, in 2004. “Bound by their shared passion for Tamil, their native language, both of them engaged robustly with the activities of the Tamil Sangam, earning Selva many friends in Michigan, Florida, and in Cary,” the obituary said. He served on the Board of Directors of the Cary Tamil Sangam. He was also a staunch follower of the Isha foundation, that is dedicated to raising human consciousness through individual transformation.
He is survived by his wife and their daughter, Anandi, who “affectionately recalls many hours of playing “Barbie,” and “pushcart” with him,” as well as as the “sneaking around mom to get laddoos from the temple and frequently stopping for pakoras, samosas, and Starbucks coffee.”
This is so sad and tragic and is reflective of the anti-immigrant sentiment stoked by the administration. Instead of celebrating immigrants, this administration is demonizing and marginalizing the contribution of immigrants to our society.