Sarah El-Sayed’s Karnataka roots spotlighted after husband’s historic US Senate win
Abdul El-Sayed has been elected as the first Muslim to the US Senate, a historic milestone, with his wife Dr Sarah Jukaku's roots in Bhatkal, Karnataka, drawing renewed attention to their Indian heritage. Sarah, a psychiatrist, was born in Michigan to an Indian-immigrant family from Bhatkal. Her grandfather, Jukaku Shamshuddin, served as deputy minister for finance in Mysore State and brought electricity to the town, while her father Dr Tayeb Jukaku is a nephrologist. The couple met at the University of Michigan through the Muslim Students' Association and married in 2006. Sarah's family maintains ties to Bengaluru and Bhatkal, with El-Sayed noting he is "well inducted" into South Indian family life.