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Maccaca Crimewatch

ABD student found dead in Delhi under mysterious circumstances (Update)

By: Santosh :+: Under: Maccaca Crimewatch
On: ⋅ May 14, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

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Update:
Correction from original story: the name of the victim is Keanan not Kenan. Keanan, was the son of Little India editor, Anchal Mehra. This is either one of the weirdest suicides ever, or, one of the craziest stories a police investigation cooked up. [TOI Online]
If going by the official police theories, Keanan did indeed commit suicide, he stabbed himself with a knife in his chest, abdomen and neck, and left himself to bleed to death, without the hope of even his body being discovered in any hurry.

Keanan Mehra (21) was found with a knife lodged in his neck and another stab injury between his chest and abdomen. His decaying corpse suggested that he was probably lying dead for at least three days.

Also by official accounts, he had a backup plan in case the original suicide plan failed.

According to police sources, the noose indicates that Keanan had made “alternate arrangements” to kill himself, lest he failed killing himself with a kitchen knife. He apparently jammed the knife in his neck with such force that it broke in two. “We found a noose made out of a bedsheet in a room near which Mehra was found dead. This pushes us into believing that he did perhaps kill himself. Why else would he have fashioned a noose and left it on his bed?” said an investigating officer.

Granted there are some strong clues to support the official theory.

What has deepened their suspicions is the fact that no fingerprints have been found — apart from that of Keanan — on the broken handle of the knife.
But as all windows were shut, and the only entrance to the flat was bolted from inside, the cops think it unlikely that some assailants entered the house and then escaped. The only window, which lay open, did not have any ledge or rainwater pipe close to it, which the killer(s) may have used to escape.

But here’s another twist, there was no suicide note, which while not unheard of, is extremely uncommon.

According to police sources, they are now investigating the motive. “We haven’t found a suicide note, not even a scribbling on his notebook, which can lead us to the motive.
Mehra’s aunt, Chetna Kapoor, has told the police that Keanan did not exhibit any signs of depression.

While I’m no chef, I can certainly tell when the food is bad. While the police have some strong evidence to support their theory of a suicide, which oh so coincidentally, is also the most convenient one …. for the police, something doesn’t quite add up. A suicide without any motive, warning signs or suicide note is very rare. Usually people find at least one, if not all three. On top of that the modus operandi this person used to kill himself is also very rare - people committing suicide take the quickest or the least painless way out. Multiply the chances of those two occurring together and the proverbial daal turns kaala. So like I mentioned earlier, this is one of the most bizzare suicides or the more fascinating tale the investigators have cooked up. If indeed, this was a murder, there is one clever killer on the loose, which is all the more reason, the police should not convince themselves that this was a suicide, and do a thorough investigation treating it as a suspected murder.

Our thoughts are with the father of the victim, Little India editor, Anchal Mehra, and his family.

Original Story:
Kenan Mehra, 21, a Califronia native, who was doing his M.A. at Delhi University was found dead with head injuries and stab wounds on the neck in apartment in north Delhi. [Sify News]

Despite, the injuries and stab wounds, police are also investigating a suicide angle. [Hindustan Times] (tip Runa)

The Hindustan Times article also alludes to the father of the victim being the editor of a popular Indian diaspora magazine, which most of our US readers might be familiar with.

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