One year later, justice sought for slain sister

Authorities have been unable to make the suspect in the case return from India to stand trial.

By VANITA GOWDA

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 12, 2000

WASHINGTON -- On the first anniversary of her younger sister's murder, Sheela Agarwal came to Capitol Hill hoping to find justice.

Two days after the death of 20-year-old University of Central Florida student Deepa Agarwal, suspect Kamlesh Agarwal left the United States for India. Since then, he has not returned.

Although Orlando police issued a warrant for Kamlesh Agarwal's arrest shortly after concluding their investigation, they have been unable to bring him to trial.

At a news conference Tuesday, Sheela Agarwal asked for "American justice," urging federal authorities to step up efforts to extradite Kamlesh Agarwal and bring him to trial in the United States.

She was joined by U.S. Rep. Dan Miller, R-Bradenton, who has introduced legislation that would reform U.S. extradition laws and impose penalties on countries with a poor record of helping the United States apprehend criminal suspects.

"The world should know that America is serious about prosecuting those who commit crimes on American soil," Miller said. Deepa Agarwal's slaying is "another sad example of justice being unnecessarily denied."

Despite the importance of bringing suspects to trial, extradition "is not a high priority issue" for federal authorities, said Miller.

There are no official public statistics on the exact number of individuals who have fled U.S. prosecution. A recent estimate put the number at about 1,500.

Miller's bill would require the federal government to release information on the number of fugitives living abroad. It would also make countries that are uncooperative with U.S. extradition efforts subject to economic sanctions until they reform their practices.

Extradition cases have become more difficult because of the increased availability of international travel and the complexity of various countries' citizenship laws, said Jim Polley, director of government affairs for the American Prosecutors Research Institute.

In addition, he said, U.S. prosecutors' investigations are often hampered by costly travel and restrictive international laws. These obstacles make U.S. prosecutors more dependent on the help of foreign nations in apprehending criminal suspects.

In July 1999, Deepa Agarwal's body was found stuffed inside a cardboard box in her Orlando apartment. Born and raised in Orlando, she had recently enrolled in a doctoral finance program and, at 20, was the youngest doctoral student in the University of Central Florida's history.

Police quickly identified Kamlesh Agarwal, then 21, a fellow student and distant relative, as the primary suspect in the killing. But he had already returned to his native India.

Kamlesh Agarwal was jealous of his cousin's many friends and angry that she sometimes stayed out late, according to police investigators in Orlando.

Since then, Sheela Agarwal, 22, has been fighting to have Kamlesh Agarwal extradited to the United States. She feels that authorities in both the United States and India have not taken the steps necessary to return him to the United States.

Arguing that the government of India has not been vigilant in their search for Kamlesh Agarwal, Sheela Agarwal wants U.S. officials to become more involved and increase pressure to produce Kamlesh Agarwal.

"The U.S. looks the other way at India's lack of cooperation," Sheela Agarwal said.

- Information from the Orlando Sentinel contributed to this report.

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