A commemorative bench has been placed in Graduate College in honour of student Anuj Bidve, who was killed almost one year ago.
23-year-old Anuj, who was a postgraduate student from Pune, India, was shot dead in the early hours of Boxing Day, 2011, whilst on his way with friends to the sales in Salford, Greater Manchester. The youth responsible, 20-year-old Kiaran Stapleton, was convicted of Anuj’s murder in July this year and sentenced to a minimum of thirty years’ imprisonment. The attack had been entirely unprovoked.
Anuj, a student of Lancaster’s Engineering Department, was popular among both students and staff, many of whom attended a memorial service for him held shortly after the tragedy. Now, with the anniversary of his death approaching, Anuj’s life has been permanently commemorated with a wooden bench made from reclaimed teak root and bearing a plaque in honour of the hard-working and diligent student. Donations made during the January memorial service provided the funding for the installation.
The University’s Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor will also remember Anuj in their speeches to the December graduation ceremonies. In February this year, the Anuj Bidve Memorial Scholarship was also established in order to fund a graduate student from the University of Pune, India, to undertake postgraduate study for an MSc here at Lancaster’s Engineering Department.
