NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Corpus Christi, Texas, November 10, 2025: A 23-year-old graduate student from Andhra Pradesh was found dead in her apartment in the United States on November 7, a loss that has left her family, friends, and community in deep grief.
The student, Rajyalakshmi “Raji” Yarlagadda, had recently completed her master’s degree at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi and was actively searching for a job after graduation, according to multiple Indian media reports. Originally from Karamchedu in Bapatla district, she came from a farming family and had pursued higher education in the U.S. with hopes of supporting her parents.
Family members told reporters that in the two to three days before her death, Raji had been suffering from a severe cough and chest pain. On the morning of November 7, she reportedly did not respond to her alarm, prompting friends to check on her. She was later found unresponsive in her apartment.
Local authorities in the U.S. have initiated a medical examination and autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. As of now, no official cause has been released.
News of Raji’s death has resonated widely both in India and among the Indian student community abroad, highlighting the pressures faced by international students—academic, financial, and emotional—as they navigate life far from home.
Her family, who had taken out educational loans to support her studies, is now struggling with the financial burden of repatriating her body to India and arranging her final rites. A crowdfunding effort launched by relatives overseas has begun raising funds to help with these expenses.
Further details are awaited from U.S. authorities as the investigation progresses.
Cover photo credit: GoFundMe.
