ROURKELA: An Assistant Professor from the Life Sciences Department of the National Institute of Technology-Rourkela (NIT-R) Rasu Jaybalan and his wife Malini were found dead inside their official residence on campus. Prima facie they appeared to have consumed poison, but police are awaiting the autopsy report to ascertain the exact cause of death.
NIT-R sources informed that the couple was not seen for 36 hours after August 14 and some students who searching for him on Friday night had found their apartment locked from inside with the lights being switched on. They called the institute’s security personnel who climbed up the kitchen balcony to find their bodies lying inside.
Sector-3 police arrived at about 11 pm on August 16th and started preliminary investigations.
According to reports, the professor (37) was found lying dead near the attached bathroom, while Malini (35) was found on the bed. Dried vomit and bloodstains were reportedly spotted on both their mouths.
NIT-R Registrar Prof. PK Das said a six-page suicide note was seized by police from the spot but he declined to divulge details citing pending police investigation.
Though it appears to be a suicide, their family members from Madurai, expected to reach campus on Sunday morning, may shed more lights on the incident, he added.
The deceased couple was residing at an apartment on the first floor of a six-storey building on the campus.
Rasu Jaybalan was a promising researcher and the couple was friendly. Malini was employed as nutritionist at the CWS Hospital, said Das.
Reliable sources claimed that the first paragraph of the suicide note mentioned that the couple was fed up with life after 10 years of marriage. The six-page note in English and Tamil further shed light that they consciously planned to end their lives as, on August 14, they had deposited all their gold ornaments and valuables in the bank locker.
The note addressed to family members had details about their assets and specifically mentioned shares of family members. It also mentioned passcodes to enable access to the professor's research projects.
Sector-3 police station IIC Saraswati Tudu said the bodies have been preserved for autopsy on Sunday and that the cause of death and timing would be known after autopsy.
Rourkela SP Sarthak Sarangi, a police forensic team and a dog squad on Saturday inspected the spot.