Clear-cut case of hanging, no physical foul play: Autopsy of JNU student

The board opined that death was due to asphyxia, a condition where the body is deprived of oxygen.

House number 196 in Munirka Vihar, where the student was found hanging. Abhinav Saha

AIIMS on Wednesday submitted its opinion to the Delhi Police in connection with the case of M.Phil student J Muthukrishnan, stating that “there is no physical foul play” behind his death. Dr Sudhir Gupta, professor and head, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, AIIMS, who headed the five-member medical board constituted to conduct the post-mortem examination, submitted the report to police, who in turn have filed a case of abetment to suicide.

Dr Gupta told The Indian Express that according to preliminary findings, Muthukrishnan’s death is a “clear-cut case of hanging”. The board opined that death was due to asphyxia, a condition where the body is deprived of oxygen.

The board ruled out physical foul play, having found no physical injuries on the body. “As per our opinion, there is no physical foul play to the cause of death and there are no injuries on the body. It is a clear-cut case of hanging. The findings of the board is that it is asphyxia as a result of anti-mortem hanging, which means death is due to hanging,” Dr Gupta told The Indian Express.

While the medical board found marks on the neck as a result of hanging, AIIMS officials said “other findings”, like saliva and natural discharges, also point to a “clear-cut case of hanging”.

“There was a mark on the neck. However, we also found saliva and other natural discharges, which are sure sign that death is due to hanging,” Dr Gupta said. “This is the final opinion in the case. But since police have registered a case of abetment to suicide, they they will have to find out whether the deceased was facing mental trauma, which resulted in him committing suicide,” Gupta said. The entire autopsy was videographed.

Kaunain Sheriff M

Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies. With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health. His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award. Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time. Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More

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