The father of musician Karan Joseph, who allegedly ended his life by jumping off from a building on September 9, has claimed that his son was murdered.
In an eight-page statement he released on Monday, Dr Thomas Joseph said that even though he gave a written complaint citing the murder of his son, the investigating officer did not register a complaint under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC.
Karan, a 29-year-old musician from Bengaluru, was known for his jazz improvisations. On September 9, he allegedly jumped from the window of a 12th-floor apartment in Bandra, Mumbai, where he was living.
In his statement, Karan's father said that his son feared for his life. Soon after news of his death spread across the industry, Thomas stated, Karan's friends "immediately made public the messages Karan had sent via WhatsApp, including the ones sent to his friend Randolph which clearly showed that all was not well on the 8th night/9th morning of September and that he feared for his life."
"These phone messages," he added, "were among the last communication that Karan sent out and indicate that there were some person/persons who were intimidating him to a point that ultimately resulted in his death. Those messages should be given the status of a dying declaration."
One person whose name has come under the scanner in Karan's death is music entrepreneur Rishi Shah. Karan and Rishi were flatmates in the 12th-floor apartment in Concorde Apartments in Bandra West.
Thomas too pointed fingers at Rishi alleging that Karan was "clearly being enticed and coerced by Rishi Shah to sign a music contract disassociated him from the rest of the music industry."
This issue was supposedly a "huge bone of contention" between Karan and Rishi.
He also said that Rishi, along with the others who were in the apartment at the time of the incident, could have tampered with or destroyed the evidence.
The bereaved family has also dismissed media reports and rumours claiming that Karan has financial difficulties and was suffering from depression.
Describing Karan as someone who was "simple, humble, shy in nature and very gentle", his father said that he was not only a brilliant musician and great team player, he was also a stable and valued member of every team he worked with.
He was busy with his gigs and contracts which was taking him to places and had recently wrapped up a contract with AR Rahman.
"To suggest that he was disturbed, depressed, financially weak or otherwise unstable is not just doing his memory a disservice but is patently untrue," Thomas wrote.
Stating that Karan was financially independent since the age of 14, he called rumours of him being in financial difficulties as "plain rubbish".
Thomas has asked for a fair investigation in the case and hopes to fight till his son gets justice.
"The dead cannot seek justice. It is up to the living to get justice for the dead," Thomas wrote.