The decapitated body of a Delhi University professor was found on railway tracks in Sarai Rohilla and his mother was found hanging from a ceiling fan with her mouth stuffed with cloth at their flat in Pitampura, police said on Sunday.
Allen Stanley (27), who hailed from Kottayam in Kerala, was found dead on Saturday. Earlier that day, his mother Lissy (55) was found hanging at the flat in Ashiana Apartment.
Police suspect Stanley committed suicide after killing his mother. However, no suicide note was recovered with Stanley's body, but a note written in Malayalam was found at the flat.
Police said the bodies have been sent for post-mortem and they are probing all angles.
They have registered a murder case under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code at Rani Bagh police station after they found his mother dead at the flat.
Stanley did his graduation from St Stephen's College and his masters from Hyderabad Central University. He was pursuing Phd from IIT-Delhi and had joined as an ad hoc professor at St Stephen's College over a year ago where he taught Philosophy, a close friend said.
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The mother-son duo were in depression because of an abetment-to-suicide case pending against them in Kerala, and both were on anticipatory bail. A few days ago, Stanley had shared about it with his friends who tried to convince him to not take any extreme step, a police officer said.
Stanley was living in Delhi for five years and his mother came to stay with him seven months ago.
Some of his friends said Stanley showed suicidal tendencies and five days ago told them that he had tried to force his mother to commit suicide but she had refused, according to police.
"We learnt about the tragic news this morning. We are in shock. I interacted with him when we were speaking to teachers in the lead up to Delhi University Teachers' Association polls. We do not know what prompted him to take such a step," said professor Nandita Narain, Stanley's colleague at St Stephen's College.
A Delhi University professor requesting anonymity said, "Articles were published in regional media in Kerala comparing Stanley's case with the Kerala serial murders. Stanley and his mother were targeted by trolls and misogynistic comments were made against his mother."