Not Everyone’s Convinced India’s Dr. Siras Killed Himself Over Gay Sex Tape. And For Good Reason

So the whole suicide explanation for the death of Dr. Srinivas Ramachandra Siras, the Aligarh Muslim University professor? Looks like few people are buying it.

Siras — who was videotaped having sex with a male rickshaw driver in a disgusting smear campaign — was originally suspended and then reinstated (via court ruling) from his post as chairman of the Modern Indian Languages department university. But on Wednesday, he was found dead in his home, “with blood oozing out of his mouth.”

And it has a consortium of NGOs calling for a complete investigation: “We demand that the police conduct a full, fair and impartial investigation into the cause of death,” reads a statement from groups like Naz Foundation, Saheli, Nigah, Voices Against Section 377, and Lesbians and Bisexuals in Action (LABIA, Mumbai). “A step in the right direction has been taken by sending his body for a post-mortem examination. The results of this examination must be made public immediately. That Dr Siras had to undergo the trauma, fear, harassment and humiliation in his own beloved university in what would turn out to be his last weeks is condemnable. If these events and that trauma are in any way linked to his death, then all actors involved must be held culpable.”