JNU scholar’s death: Kin rule out suicide

A day after JNU Ph.D. student J.R. Philemon Chiru was found dead inside his hostel room, the family has ruled out the possibility of suicide, but said that they will rely on the police investigations and the autopsy report to know the real cause of death.

Chiru (35), who was pursuing his Ph.D. in international relations, was found dead inside his Brahmaputra Hostel room on Tuesday night after a foul smell emanating from his room was noticed by other roommates. The police has recovered a bottle of alcohol from his room and suspects alcohol overdose to be the cause of death. Chiru younger sister, Ziar Legasi, who is preparing for civil services and stays at Mukherjee Nagar area, said she was informed about the incident on Tuesday night by one of his friends. “My brother could not have committed suicide. I don’t know what had happened to him. We demand fare and through probe into the matter.”

“The body has been handed over to his family. There was no external injury marks on it. It is suspected he died of some drug overdose... A FSL team also surveyed the room and collected samples of food and beverages for further investigation. We have also found medicines and empty liquor bottles from the room,” said an official.