Hundreds remember Purdue student who was murdered in dorm room

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) — Friends, family and fellow students gathered Wednesday to remember 20-year-old Varun Chheda.

“Tonight we are brought together with a special intensity because of a loss that a family has suffered,” Purdue President Mitch Daniels said during the service.

Chheda was a data science major from Indianapolis. He attended the Sycamore School and Park Tudor School, both in Indianapolis. Police say Chheda was stabbed to death by his roommate Ji Min Sha inside his McCutcheon Hall dorm room Oct. 5.

• Police: Suspect calls 911 after killing roommate in Purdue dorm room

“He was very humble, very kind personality, very smart, very gentle personality. He never made any real enemies. He had many, many different types of friends from all walks of life. He was very inquisitive, he always wanted to learn more,” said Chheda’s father, Manish Chheda.

Sha is expected to be formally charged in court on Friday.

• Purdue Asian students feel grief after homicide in dorm room
• Hundreds of Boilermakers gather to honor slain classmate
• Riley Children’s Foundation collecting donations in memory of late Purdue student Varun Chheda