NIT Assistant Professor and wife found dead

An assistant professor at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela and his wife were found dead at their residence in the institute campus here on Saturday, police said.

The bodies of R Jayabalan and his wife Malvi Kesavan, who hailed from Tamil Nadu, were recovered after police broke open the door of their flat, a police officer said.

Police suspect that the couple committed suicide as a suicide note written both in English and Tamil was recovered from the flat of the childless couple, who were married for nine years. The family members of the couple are expected to arrive on Sunday.

As the door of the flat was locked from inside for the last two days, neighbours informed the campus security on Friday night.

Police was also informed and they broke open the door of the flat on Saturday morning in the presence of senior officials and higher authorities of NIT Rourkela. The bodies of the two, in their mid-thirties, were found inside.

The body of the woman was on the bed, while that of the husband was in the bathroom, both of them had vomited before dying, Rourkela, Superintendent of Police, Sarthak Sarangi said.

The suicide note mentioned that no one was responsible for their death, the SP said.

"Prima facie, it looks like a case of suicide. We are yet to ascertain the exact reason and investigation is in progress," the SP said.

Forensic and scientific experts and others examined the site as part of the probe. The bodies were sent for post- mortem, the police said.

Registrar of NIT Rourkela P K Das said, "they were a wonderful couple and very friendly. Jayabalan was liked by the students and his colleagues. He would involve himself in all the activities of the department. He was also very good at his subject that was life science."