Police messed up; can’t rule out murder: ACP’s report on Nayana Surya's death

They said the investigators could not conclude which of these reasons killed Nayana.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a scathing indictment, the report filed by ACP JK Dinil said the Museum police that probed the death of young filmmaker Nayana Surya in 2019 committed serious procedural lapses and failed to collect any material evidence. It said homicide could not be ruled out and recommended reinvestigation by a specialised agency.

Dinil was directed to probe whether the case warrants reinvestigation, after friends of the 28-year-old filmmaker accused the police of lethargy.

The six-paragraph report submitted before Thiruvananthapuram City Commissioner C H Nagaraju said the officers failed in observing the crime scene and applying their minds. The Museum police, in their report filed in court in 2019, said Nayana died due to a constricting force on the neck. They listed three possibilities for this: Auto-erotic asphyxia, self-throttling due to severe depression and drop in sugar level while engaged in physical activity. They said the investigators could not conclude which of these reasons killed Nayana.

However, Dinil’s report said there was no evidence to back the claim of auto-erotic asphyxiation. It said there was no proof of Nayana having such sexual fantasies and no equipment that could have been used for it were found.

Fingerprints not collected from room, says report

The ACP’s report also said the light and fan in Nayana’s room were off. So, it was implausible that she could have engaged in the act in darkness without the fan switched on. There were injuries on different parts of the body. So, it was not feasible to conjure that they had occurred due to asphyxia while engaged in sexual activity, said the ACP’s report. It also said the police did not collect fingerprints from the room where Nayana was found dead.

Her mobile phone was not subjected to forensic examination and its call detail record was not collected. The police’s claim that Nayana’s room was bolted from inside could not be verified as Nayana’s friends, who found her body, had said that they did not break open the door and that it opened with a strong push.