T.N. medical student found dead in Delhi, kin suspects foul play

A syringe was found near him and two bottles of solution were seen on the table

January 18, 2018 01:05 am | Updated January 19, 2018 07:18 pm IST - NEW DELHI / COIMBATORE

Sharath Prabhu

Sharath Prabhu

A 24-year-old man, Sharath Prabhu, from Tirupur district, who was pursuing MD in General Medicine at the University College of Medical Sciences affiliated to the Delhi University, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the bathroom of a private accommodation in the national capital on Wednesday morning. A syringe was found lying next to him, the police said.

Last year, Dr. Saravanan, a medico hailing from the same district, who was pursuing postgraduate studies in AIIMS was found dead in his room under similar circumstances and the Delhi police claimed that he had self-administered a lethal injection.

Dr. Prabhu had completed MBBS from the Government Coimbatore Medical College and joined the MD course after clearing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) last year.

The first year postgraduate student used to reside with three others in B-Block, of whom one was in Tamil Nadu for holidays. Dr. Prabhu and his two flat mates Arvind and Karthikeyan, who are also studying at UCMS, were at their residence when he was found lying unconscious.

A senior police officer said that Arvind and Karthikeyan found him lying unconscious in the washroom around 6.30 a.m. They rushed him to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.

“A syringe was found near him and two bottles of solution were found on the table; one was potassium chloride and another was insulin,” he said.

Dr. Prabhu’s father Selvamani, a businessman in the apparel sector, reached the GTB Hospital mortuary around 4:30 p.m. A board of doctors is likely to be constituted to conduct the post-mortem on Thursday, the police said.

Dr. Prabhu’s father told the media in Delhi that he had spoken to his son on Tuesday night and he seemed absolutely fine. “My son spoke to me last night around 9 p.m. and he was in a good mood. I brought up my son with love and affection,” he said.

His family suspected foul play in the death. Back at his home in Parapalayam, Dr. Prabhu’s uncle P. Jayakanthan said that they were given two versions of his health which made them suspect something was amiss.

Contradictory versions

“On Wednesday, his roommate called us at around 7.30 a.m. to inform that Prabhu collapsed in the bathroom at 6 a.m. and later died. During the course of the chat, the roommate then mentioned that he fell down from bed. These contradictions and the normal manner in which he (Prabhu) spoke the previous day, besides the fact that he was healthy, all make us suspect something fishy in the entire incident”, he said.

The police said that his flatmates are being questioned.

Dr. Prabhu’s cousin Navanuma Krishnan who happened to be in Delhi on Wednesday as he had come to attend a fair at Pragati Maidan and was the first among the family members to reach the hospital. He said that Prabhu was fine but often complained of long duty hours. “He had mentioned that the doctors were often made to work for 36 hours continuously besides the studies,” he said.

Relatives and family friends remembered the youth as a brilliant student who studied in Ooty till Class X and passed Plus Two examinations scoring 1,187 out of 1,200 marks. He obtained coaching for NEET at Thrissur in Kerala, and obtained seat at New Delhi on merit.

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