From Orkut to Bandra, all had prayed for Minal

A beach of her own, a bike, a musician guy, chocolate mint ice cream and pretty earrings. Minal Panchal wants so much from life.

That's how a friend had described 26-year-old Minal, the Indian student reported missing after the Virginia Tech shooting, in a testimonial in Orkut, a community portal.

Late tonight, the worst fears came true. Rahul Chhabra of The Indian Embassy in Washington confirmed to The Indian Express that Minal — she was attending a civil engineering lecture when the shooting took place — was dead.

"We have just learnt with great sorrow that apart from the Indian American professor, a first year student, Minal Panchal, is also among the victims," Chhabra said.

A string of "hope you are fine" messages, which started early this morning from close friends in Orkut, had people from across the country enquiring about Minal and expressing concern. By 8.30 pm, there were 1,251 messages.

From strings like, "Hi, don't know you personally but came to know about you in the news. My prayers are with you," to "Hey I am Ashoke from Guwahati, Assam, India hope you are safe. You don't know me. But as a well-wisher I pray to almighty God to keep you safe" to messages from strangers like "It's believed that god hears prayers and fulfils the ones that are sincere, the whole nation is praying for you. I am confident you will be safe and sound, take care. God bless."

In Borivali, the usually quiet street outside the Park View apartment, where Minal stayed until last year, was abuzz with activity. That was before she went to the US to pursue a career in architecture last August.

A "quiet and intelligent" girl was GP Bhivandkar's closest friend's younger daughter.

"I am really worried about what may have happened to her. She was my close friend's daughter. She used to study really well and top her class," said Bhivandkar.

... contd.

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