JNU scholar died due to hanging, no injury marks found, say AIIMS doctors

New Delhi: The doctors at AIIMS said the Dalit research scholar at JNU who had allegedly hanged himself at his friend’s residence in south Delhi’s Munirka died due to asphyxia and no injury mark was found on the body. J Muthukrishnan, 28, an M Phil student at JNU’s Centre for Historical studies, had hanged himself from a ceiling fan on Monday.

The five-member medical board constituted to conduct the autopsy, in its preliminary report, has stated that Mr Muthukrishnan died due to hanging.

“The death was due to asphyxia, a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body due to abnormal breathing, as a result of ante-mortem hanging. No injury mark has been found on any part of the body,” said Dr Sudhir Gupta, Head of AIIMS Forensic Department.

“There were signs of dribbling of saliva on the face of the deceased which is a sure sign of ante-mortem hanging. Viscera has been preserved for chemical analysis,” Dr Gupta said.

The body of the JNU research scholar was embalmed and handed over to police, he said, adding the autopsy procedure was videographed.

Meanwhile, the police have registered a case of abetment of suicide in the death of Mr Muthukrishnan.

“We have registered a case of abetment of suicide under relevant section of The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) Prevention of Atrocities (PoA) Act. The case has been registered against unknown persons,” a senior police officer said.

Mr Muthukrishnan, who had named himself ‘Krish Rajini’ on Facebook, was at the forefront of a students’ movement following Rohith Vemula’s suicide.