Kerala doc found dead in Gorakhpur booked ticket to TVM for wife's delivery, kin allege foul play

Dr Abisho David (32), who was found dead in his hostel room at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, had booked a ticket to return to Kerala for his wife’s delivery. He had planned to travel on July 19, as his leave had been sanctioned and the delivery was due next month.

Abisho was a third-year postgraduate student in Anaesthesiology, just two months away from completing the course and final examinations. After completing his MBBS from Government Medical College, Thrissur, he moved to UP for his PG studies. He married Nimisha, a native of Vellanad, Thiruvananthapuram, a year ago. Nimisha is currently pursuing her first-year PG in Gynaecology at the SAT Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. The couple was expecting their first child.

It was around 11.30 am on Friday, Abisho's father, David, received a phone call from a man who identified himself as the head of Abisho’s department and informed him about his son's death, urging that someone from the family should come to Gorakhpur immediately. Initially thinking it was a fake call, the family tried calling Abisho’s phone, which was answered by the same caller, repeating the news.

David immediately informed his elder son, Dr Abhinav, who works at Pathanamthitta Taluk Hospital. Abhinav, along with his brother-in-law and Nimisha’s father, left for Gorakhpur. “We reached the medical college on Sunday morning. The post-mortem is over, and we’ve collected the body. It’s now being taken to the Lucknow airport,” Abhinav told Onmanorama. “We are still working on getting flight tickets. Right now, our main concern is the proper packaging of the body for the journey. We still don’t know about the procedures for that. We hope to reach Thiruvananthapuram by Sunday,” he added.

“According to his friends, Abisho had spent time with one of them in his room studying until 2 am on Friday. When he didn’t report for his morning duty, they grew suspicious and checked his room. Since everyone had separate rooms, they broke open the door and found him unconscious on his bed, with a syringe and a medicine bottle nearby. Authorities and local police were alerted immediately. After a preliminary investigation, police informed us that he had died by suicide and that there was nothing suspicious,” Abhinav said.

However, the family is not convinced. “There’s no reason for him to do such a thing. Even his friends suspect something is wrong and have asked for the probe to continue,” Abhinav added.

“We just want to know the truth. He was a calm, well-behaved, and intelligent person. There was nothing troubling him that we know of,” said Abisho’s uncle, Sanandha Singh, who is the Neyyattinkara municipal secretary. “He wasn’t very social, always focused on his studies. He even spoke to his parents the day before. If it’s true that he committed suicide, there should be some reason, but we are not aware of anything like that. He was expecting his baby next month—why would he take his life now?” he added.

“We don’t have any family members or anyone close in Gorakhpur. So we have submitted complaints to the Chief Minister and the Thiruvananthapuram MP. We even sent a letter to the Prime Minister. We want to know what happened to him. We came to know the initial details through the media,” Abisho's uncle added.

Parassala panchayat member Manju Smitha L remembered Abisho as kind and helpful. “He was always seen helping his parents in the fields next to their house. He was known for his good conduct,” she said.

Parassala police also confirmed that they have not received any official communication from their counterparts in Gorakhpur. Attempts by Onmanorama to contact Gorakhpur City SP Abhinav Tyagi for a statement were unsuccessful.

Abisho's father, David, is a retired military officer, and his mother, Juliet, is a retired teacher. Before joining the Thrissur Medical College, he was a student at the Boys’ Higher Secondary School, Neyyattinkara. Nimisha has been informed of Abisho’s death and is currently at her house at Vellanad.