MEA takes up with US visa issue of family of Indian student injured in accident

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has taken up with the US a request for an urgent visa by the family of an Indian student who is battling for life following a road accident in California, sources said.

Neelam Shinde from Maharashtra's Satara was critically injured in the accident on February 14 and has been in a coma at a hospital since then. Shinde reportedly suffered severe injuries to her head, hand and chest. Her family has sought an urgent visa to travel to the US to be by her side.

The MEA has taken up the matter with the US. The US side is looking into the formalities for early grant of visa for the applicant's family, the sources cited above said. Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule flagged the case on Wednesday.

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"Student Neelam Shinde has met with an accident in the USA and is hospitalised in a local hospital," she said in a post on X. "Her father, Tanaji Shinde, from Satara, Maharashtra, India, urgently needs to visit his daughter due to a medical emergency. Tanaji Shinde has applied for an urgent visa to the USA and requires assistance," Sule said.