The BBC is reporting that the second man in as many months to die after being pushed in front of a NYC subway was also Asian American. Officials identified the man as 46-year-old Sunando Sen, originally from India, who was killed after a woman (described by witnesses as a “heavy-set Hispanic woman”) shoved him in front of the 7 train last week. While no security footage is available from the station where Sen was killed, CCTV footage videotaped the suspect running from the station moments after the incident.
Sen, who immigrated from Calcutta 20 years ago, was a graphic designer and the co-owner of his own printing business, New Amsterdam Printing Co. Reports say that Sen was unmarried, and that both his parents are deceased; roommates say that he had no living family.
The incident caused an outcry after a tabloid published a photo showing the victim moments away from being struck.
On Friday, police identified the victim as 46-year-old Sunando Sen, originally from India and a resident of Queens.
Investigators identified Sen through a smart phone and a prescription pill bottle he was carrying.
Thursday’s incident took place at the 40th Street-Lowery Street subway station near Queens Boulevard in the Sunnyside neighbourhood of the borough of Queens in New York City.
Witnesses said that moments before the attack the female assailant was talking to herself while walking up and down the platform, before eventually sitting down on a bench.
As the train approached, the suspect rose from her seat and pushed Sen, who stood with his back to her, onto the tracks, Deputy Commissioner Paul Brown said in a statement.The man’s body was pinned under the front of a carriage as the train came to a halt. Police are still trying to identify the badly damaged body of the victim, the Associated Press news agency reports.
Sen’s death comes in the wake of the killing of Korean-American Ki-Suck Han last month; Han died after he was pushed in front of a subway by Naeem Davis who was arrested in the days following Han’s death, and now faces charges of murder.
While it’s likely coincidence that both subway deaths in NYC this past few months have targeted Asian American victims, I can’t help but feel particular sympathetic, in part because these crimes are so senseless, and in part because they have a personal connection to our community.
My prayers go out to Sen and his family in this horrific tragedy.
