Alan Stanley, a Delhi University professor from St Stephen’s college whose decapitated body was found on railway tracks on Sunday, 20 October, blamed the Kerala police in his suicide note, news agency PTI reported.
On the same day, his mother was found hanging from a ceiling fan with her mouth stuffed with cloth at their flat in Pitampura.
Alan Stanley (27), who hailed from Kottayam in Kerala, was found dead on tracks at Sarai Rohilla railway station on Saturday. Earlier that day, his mother Lissy (55) was found hanging at the flat in Ashiana Apartment, they said.
Stanley was a guest professor at St Stephen's College, where he taught Philosophy, and was also pursuing Phd from another institute.
Lissy's post-mortem was conducted at the Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital in New Delhi, while Stanley's post-mortem was carried out at the Sabzi Mandi mortuary. The funeral will take place on Tuesday.
Police said, prima facie, both appeared to be cases of suicide, however, the post-mortem reports were awaited.
On 21 October, police had registered a murder case under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code at Rani Bagh police station after they found Stanley’s mother dead at the flat.
What Happened?
According to the police, the events unfolded in the following manner, reported Times of India:
- Around 12:30 PM, police receive a call from Lissy’s relatives, who had reached her house as Lissy was not responding to any calls.
- The police reach Lissy’s house to find the door unlocked and her body hanging from a ceiling fan with her mouth stuffed with cloth.
- The police try to reach her son Alan but are unable to get in touch.
- Around 1:30 PM, Alan’s friend calls him but he is informed from a railway police officer about Alan’s death.
- A note in Malayalam was found at Alan’s house which talks about their involvement in an abetment to suicide case.
‘Mother-Son Duo Were in Depression’
The mother-son duo were in depression because of an abetment-to-suicide case pending against them in Kerala, and both were on anticipatory bail.
A few days ago, Stanley had shared about it with his friends who tried to convince him to not take any extreme step, a police officer said.
Stanley was living in Delhi for five years and his mother came to stay with him seven months ago.
Witness said Stanley was suicidal and they said he had told them five days ago that he had tried to force his mother to commit suicide but she refused.
"We learnt about the tragic news this morning. We are in shock. I had interacted with him when we were speaking to teachers in the lead up to Delhi University Teachers' Association polls. We do not know what prompted him to take such a step. He was teaching Philosophy at the college," said professor Nandita Narain, who was Stanley's colleague at St Stephen's College.
The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, police said.
Case Of Abetment to Suicide Pending Against Them
Stanley & Lissy have a case of abetment of suicide registered against them in Kerala which was filed by Lissy’s in-laws from her second husband. Both were out on anticipatory bail, reported Times of India
Lissy’s first husband was an army officer who passed away in 2014. She had two sons from that marriage, Alan and Abin. Two years later Lissy married K John Willson, who died in 2018. John’s family accused Lissy with a case of abetment of suicide, alleging that she drove him to end his life. The crime branch of Kerala’s Idukki police was investigating the case of abetment of suicide.
According to TA Antony, DSP, district crime branch, Idukki, his department took over the case one-and-a- half months back as the per the High Court’s direction. Lissy and Stanley had moved to the HC to quash the FIR against them but their appeal was rejected.
Suicide Note Blames Kerala Police
In a suicide note, Stanley and his mother accused the police in Kerala for harassing them and blamed a section of the media in the southern state for its "negative" reportage for their death, sources in the Delhi Police said on Monday, reported news agency PTI.
“In a four-page suicide note signed by both Stanley and his mother, the police in Kerala and a few other people have been accused of harassment in connection with the case. The regional media has also been blamed for sensational reporting on the case,”A senior police officer from Delhi Police to PTI
The suicide note also requested the principal of St Stephen's College to look into the case and ensure that the accused and those who put them through this ordeal were jailed, Stanley's friends said.
They claimed that Lissy had also apologised to her elder son in the suicide note.
She repeatedly said she could not bear the humiliation any more, the friends claimed, adding that the newspaper reports and the name of a reporter were also mentioned in the suicide note.
Friends Condemn Manorama Article On Mother-Son Duo
Stanley’s friends took to social media to slam Malayalam news outlet Manorama for its coverage of the mother-son duo’s dispute with his step-father’s family.
In a report published in the Malayalam Monorama’s Kottayam edition on 15 October, the paper had questioned if Lissy was involved in her second husband’s death.
Stanley’s friends and well-wishers say that the two were very disturbed by the article. Shortly after, Marunadan, another Malayalam news outlet, had picked up the story as well.
In a Facebook group created by his loved ones called ‘Allan Oppam’, many slammed the TV channels for their ‘shoddy’ reporting.
“Our friend Alan and his mother passed away yesterday. In fact it was a murder. Malayala Manorama and Marunaadan TV (Two Malayalam media outlets) killed them. Four days ago (15 October), Malayala Manorama had published a news article. They had written a 5 column article ruthlessly portraying Alan’s mother in a bad light. Following this, Marunaadan and Malayali Vartha (two Youtube channels), published more of similar narratives. Aunty was compared to the prime suspect of the Koodathai murder incident. They added much masala to the stories, which had no connection to the truth of what happened”, wrote a friend of Stanley’s on Facebook.
"Because of the sensational media coverage in Kerala a few days back. the local people there, and Alan’s mother’s immediate relatives and others, had been calling them asking them about these things. And it was extremely painful for them to go through that whole thing. For the past few days, Alan didn’t go to college because he was so ashamed of this whole thing. We (me and a few friends of Alan living in Kerala) had been in touch with him till the 15th. After that, whenever we tried to call or message, he was not responding. He shut us out”, another friend told The Quint.
Both Malayalam Manorama and Marunadan are yet to respond to these allegations
(With Inputs from Times of India)
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