The Delhi Police on Sunday said that a 27-year-old professor of Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College and his 55-year-old mother were found dead at two separate locations in the national Capital, PTI reported.

The police said Allen Stanley’s decapitated body was found on the tracks at Sarai Rohilla railway station on Saturday, and his mother Lissy was found hanging from a ceiling fan at their flat in northwest Delhi’s Pitampura area. Her mouth was stuffed with cloth and her limbs were tied, they added.

The police suspect Stanley committed suicide after killing his mother, and said that they were investigating all the possible angles in the case. A murder case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Rani Bagh police station.

The mother-son duo hailed from Kottayam district in Kerala. Stanley was a guest professor at St Stephen’s College, and was doing his doctorate from another institute. His mother came to stay with him seven months ago.

A separate case of abetment to suicide was registered against Stanley and Lissy, and they were reportedly depressed about it. The case was filed in Kerala by the family of Lissy’s second husband Wilson, who died last year, The Indian Express reported. They had moved the Kerala High Court demanding that the first information report be quashed, but the court ordered a detailed probe in the matter.

The Idukki district crime branch deputy superintendent of police, TA Antony, said the probe in the matter was at the initial stage. “There are two allegations against the mother and the son,” he told the newspaper. “One is that they had harassed Wilson, causing him depression and leading to suicide. It was stated that Wilson hanged himself at his house. We have to ascertain whether the offence of abetting suicide could be made out against the duo. Secondly, Wilson’s children had alleged that Rs 1.50 crore was transferred to Lissy’s account, and that she was made a nominee in several of their father’s accounts.”

The officer said Wilson’s children have agreed to produce document in case by next week. “As Lissy was Wilson’s legal wife, we have to look into whether there was any illegal aspect to it,’’ he said.

A police officer said Stanley spoke about the pending case with his friends a few days ago, PTI reported. They tried to convince him to not take any extreme step. Family members said Stanley was suicidal and alleged that he had tried to force his mother to commit suicide but she had refused.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Railways) Dinesh Kumar Gupta said the railway police received information that a man had been run over by a train on Saturday around 1 pm, Hindustan Times reported. “Our team reached the spot and found the man’s body into two pieces, with his severed head lying between the tracks,” he said. “His mobile phone, wallet and a wristwatch was recovered from the spot. We established the man’s identity with the help of his driving licence.”

Two knives and a four-page suicide note written in Malayalam were also reportedly recovered from their apartment.

The two bodies were sent to separate government hospitals and the autopsies are likely to be conducted on Monday.

St Stephen’s College Principal, John Varghese, said: “The young man was an adhoc teacher at our college. On Saturday, he did not come to college and we got to know that he had committed suicide. The college administration was not aware of any previous FIRs against him. He had not spoken to any of his colleagues about it.”

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