More than 40 years ago, Vedam was convicted of murdering his roommate Tom Kinser, a 19-year-old student. Vedam had given him a ride the day he disappeared. His body was found nine months later in a forest with a bullet wound in his skull.
Vedam has always said he was innocent, but was sentenced to life in prison despite there being no hard evidence against the man. He also received a sentence for drug possession. He was also labeled as an undesirable alien and his American residence papers were taken away.
Immediately arrested again
Thanks to new evidence, Vedam was recently released, American media write. The bullets turned out not to have come from the weapon linked to Vedam. Even before he could be reunited with his family after 43 years of freedom, he was arrested again. This time by ICE that sent him back to India, where he was born.
Since Trump came to power, people in the US who do not have the correct papers have been unceremoniously arrested by ICE, as you can see in this video:
According to ICE, Vedam is illegally in the US due to his conviction. Even though he has been found innocent of the murder, his conviction for drug possession still stands, the agency announced in American media. He was therefore immediately returned to a detention center in Pennsylvania, where he awaits deportation.
His family is now fighting his deportation because Vedam’s situation has ‘completely changed’, writes the BBC. “It was very sad that we were not even able to hold him in our arms,” says his niece Zoë. She her uncle tells her has no connection whatsoever with the India he left as a baby. “Then he still won’t be with his family. It’s like his life is being taken from him for the second time.”
