Indian-origin student froze to death after being denied entry into US nightclub

Indian-American student Akul Dhawan, who was found dead last month after being reported missing for several hours,froze to death after a nightclub refused to give him entry, as per the latest reports.

The 18-year-old Indian-American student, who was enrolled at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the US, died of hypothermia following "acute alcohol intoxication and prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures, which significantly contributed to his death”, stated Champaign County Coroner's Office in Illinois.

On January 20, the student's dead body was discovered on the back side of a building close to the university campus in West Urbana, Illinois.

The signs of hypothermia were found on the body, however, the exact cause of death was being investigated by the campus police.

Club denied entry to Indian-American student 'multiple times'

On January 20, Akul had gone out for drinks with friends. He, along with his friends, then decided to go to the Canopy Club at around 11:30 pm (local time). Canopy Club is located close to the university campus and the boys had visited the place even the night before.

However, the club's staff members denied him entry into the club. The boy tried "multiple times" to enter the club but was repeatedly denied entry by staff, said the investigators, adding that he also did not use the two rideshare vehicles called for him, reported Kansas City.

Midwest US, along with Illinois, battles brutal cold and freezing temperatures in January as the wind chills dip between -20 to -30 degrees.

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Various calls made to Dhawan went unanswered and one of his friends reached out to the campus police for help. As per the police, an officer searched for Dhawan by driving "at a walking pace" near the "likely path" which he should have taken to come back to the campus.

A university employee next morning notified the police and emergency medical services of "a man on the back porch of a building". The police informed that he was "dead at the time he was found".

His parents, Ish and Ritu Dhawan said that their son was discovered just 400 feet from where he went missing on the basis of the location-tracking data on Dhawan's phone.

(With inputs from agencies)