Death of Lance Corporal Nitin (Nathan) Sarangapani, USMC

January 21, 2006

Lance Corporal Nitin (Nathan) Sarangapani, USMC was brutally murdered on his 24th birthday in Houston, Texas, in the early hours of September 25th, 2005.

According to the police investigators, he was fatally shot by the father of the girl he had been seeing for a couple of months.

The details are still sketchy, but from what we know, Nathan was celebrating his 24th birthday at a friend's place. Around 12 midnight, he went to drop off the girl at her home. It seems that about 30 to 40 minutes later Nathan and the girl's father had some conversations over the phone and Nathan went back to their house. The father of the girl shot Nathan, about 30 feet away from the front door and near the street.

The suspect is claiming self-defense and that he was afraid of Nathan. Nathan was totally unarmed. The suspect claims he was afraid of Nathan. If that were the case, why would he risk opening the front door to face a potential threat? Did he know Nathan was alone? He claims he had called 911 first. The question then comes up is why he did not wait for authorities to handle the matter? There are still many other questions.

He also claims that he had never met Nathan before, but we know for a fact that Nathan had been to their home many times to pick up and drop off his friend and was even had lunch or dinner. In typical Indian families, it is very strange that a father would be unaware or not know of a young man his daughter was seeing.

While the police have not yet provided the family with all the details, we have the utmost confidence in their expertise and faith in them. Upon questioning, the police advised the family that the process involved an investigation. Upon the completion of the investigation, the case would be submitted to the District Attorney, who in turn would submit it to the Grand Jury. The Grand Jury would then either indict or No-bill the assailant.

Harris County Police Department is currently working on the case, but the facts are that the department and the DA's office are overwhelmed. We just want to make sure that Nitin's case gets the attention it deserves and the case doesn't fall through the cracks and become one of those statistics.

All we are asking is that this matter be examined very carefully so that justice will be served.