A 28-year-old postgraduate medical student from Tamil Nadu's Tiruppur district has been found dead at his residence in New Delhi. Dr Sharath Prabhu was allegedly found in the bathroom of his room in the capital's Dilshad Garden area. Relatives of the doctor now suspect foul play in his death.
Dr Sharath Prabhu, according to his relatives had gone to Delhi seven months ago to pursue his post-graduation in medicine. He had joined the 2017 batch to specialise in General Medicine at the University College of Medical Sciences. He got in through counselling after writing the NEET exam last year. Relatives claim that they had spoken to him on the phone on Tuesday till 10.30 pm and were shocked to hear about his death on Wednesday morning.
"Another doctor called us at around 7.30 am and said that he had fallen in the bathroom and treatment was underway. When I called him again and asked him to give me the complete details, he told me that Sharath had died," says his uncle, Jayakandhan. "We are completely in the dark about what happened. He was a healthy and bright boy. There is no reason at all for him to have committed suicide," he adds.
Dr Sharath's conversation with his family allegedly belied no troubles or reasons for him to take his own life. According to his uncle, he spoke to his parents and other relatives jovially.
His grandfather E Palanichamy confirms that there was no mention of any problem when they spoke to Dr Sharath on the phone.
Sources in the Delhi police tell TNM that two vials of chemical compounds and injections have been recovered from the room of the deceased. In addition to this there was a 'jab' on the the student's left hand.
"We are conducting an analysis to identify the chemicals," says the officer. Prima facie, they seem to be insulin and potassium chloride, according to the police. "Postmortem is yet to be conducted. The parents may also arrive here."
In 2016, Dr Saravanan Ganeshan a junior resident doctor at AIIMS was found dead in his rented flat in Hauz Khas village in Delhi. The police claimed that the doctor from Tamil Nadu had committed suicide by injecting poison in his bloodstream, suspected to be potassium chloride. His family had, however, demanded a CBI probe, alleging that the education mafia may have been involved in the case. Saravanan too was from Tiruppur district.