Sunayana Dumala, wife of 32-year-old Srinivas Kuchibhotla who was shot dead in an alleged hate crime in Kansas on Thursday, addressed the media on Friday night and expressed her concern about living in the United States. Her husband had been killed by a US Navy veteran who reportedly mistook him and a friend for “Arabs”.

Dumala said, “I especially wondered, are we doing the right thing by staying in the United States.” She said her husband had reassured her by saying that only “good things happen to good people”. The 32-year-old woman said that she and her husband had made Olathe their home, and that she would go to India for his funeral, but would decide about living in the US later, The Kansas City Star reported. She said she would like to live her husband’s dream of an American life, but that before she decided, “I need an answer from the government. What are they going to do to stop this hate crime?”

“I was told that that guy [the shooter] very proudly went to another bar and told that he shot two Muslim guys. How did he decide that on the colour of their skin?” she asked. “Not every one will be harmful to this country.” The shooter, Adam Purinton, was charged with first-degree murder after killing Kuchibhotla.

Eyewitnesses at the Austins Bar and Grill had heard Adam Puriton shout “Get out of my country” before he started shooting at the men. Kuchibhotla’s family has also expressed their concern over the rise in hate crimes, apparently after President Donald Trump took over.

However, Trump’s staff have called it “absurd” to connect the shooting to any of the president’s remarks about immigrants and Muslims. “Obviously, any loss of life is tragic, but I’m not going to get into, like, to suggest that there’s any correlation I think is a bit absurd. So I’m not going to go any further than that,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said. The Indian Embassy issued a demarche to the US State Department on Kuchibotla’s murder, and also called for a quick investigation. The Indian Embassy in the US asked it be kept informed about the investigation.