The brutal sexual assault and murder of a 19-year-old Indian-American student on November 23 at the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC) has left those on campus shaken. The family of the woman, identified as Ruth George, originally hailed from Hyderabad. The body of the honours student was found in the back seat of a vehicle owned by her family.
The police arrested 26-year-old Donald Thurman for the crime and he has been charged with first-degree murder and criminal sexual assault.
During a hearing on Tuesday, where Thurman was denied bail, authorities said that the accused catcalled Ruth as she was walking to the parking garage from the campus. When she did not respond, authorities said that an “angry” Thurman followed her into the garage and assaulted her, before killing her.
The medical examiner ruled that Ruth’s death was a homicide by strangulation.
“As a campus community, we have shed many tears for Ruth George over the last three days. But our collective pain pales in comparison with the ordeal her family is and will be going through for days, months and years to come. Our thoughts and our hearts are with Ruth’s family and friends,” UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis said in a statement.
Several friends and family members fondly remembered Ruth, who was studying kinesiology and wished to become a physical therapist.
“She was the light of our family and the best of all of us. She was wise beyond her years and now she is gone too soon,” her sister Esther George wrote on her Facebook page.
While the family did not wish to speak to the media, they said in a statement that Ruth was ‘the beloved baby of the family’.
“We grieve with hope. We hold no hatred towards the perpetrator. Our hope is that no other girl would be harmed in this way and for a mother to never experience this type of heartache,” the statement said.
Family members of Ruth who live in Hyderabad said that her parents had migrated to the US around 30 years ago and she was born and brought up there.
The accused was on parole after he had served two years in prison for armed robbery and carjacking.
“Thurman’s most recent address was near the UIC campus. He has no affiliation with the university or the victim. The offender has a criminal record and was released from prison in December 2018 for armed robbery. He was sentenced to 6 years, but only served two and is currently on parole,” Kevin Booker, UIC Chief of Police, said in a statement.
“It has been a difficult weekend for our university and the UIC Police Department and I want to send my condolences to Ruth George’s family and friends during this very difficult time,” he added.
Parking garage was unsafe: Students
Following Ruth’s death, several UIC students took to social media to speak about the lack of security and safety measures on the campus. They also pointed out that many incidents have happened in the past in the same parking garage where Ruth was murdered, and that nothing has changed over the years.
The university sent a series of emails to its student community, urging them to remain safe and use the UIC SAFE mobile app. However, Jacqueline Oiga, a Marketing Communications and Promotions student at UIC, wrote a blog, pointing out that the emails only emphasised the importance of following simple safety steps, with no mention of the measures the university will implement to ensure the security of its students in the future.
Some also said that if the university did not increase security, the campus would continue to remain unsafe for students. Tired of the violence against women on the campus, Michelle Rodriquez, a UIC alumna, started a petition to increase campus safety.
With inputs from Shiba Kurian