The postmortem report of Anjana Hareesh alias Chinnu Sulfikar, the woman from Kerala who died in Goa on May 12, certifies the cause of death as asphyxia due to ante-mortem hanging, said North Goa Superintendent of Police Utkrisht Prasoon.

“The cause of death has come as asphyxia due to ante-mortem hanging. Suicide due to hanging,” the officer told TNM.

Many media reports in Kerala have claimed that the post mortem report said Anjana was sexually assaulted before her death and was forced to drink alcohol. The police officer said that there was no such finding in the postmortem.

"We haven’t had anything (any finding) of this sort, not in the statements of her friends who are here nor of her family. In none of their statements is it mentioned she was ever harassed. No such suggestion from the postmortem report too," he said. 

The North Goa SP who is in charge of the investigation of Anjana’s death also clarified that though the viscera report for chemical analysis was awaited, they could conclude with the postmortem that it was a case of suicide. “The viscera analysis (forensic) report is being awaited to see what substances were there. However that is irrelevant because the cause of death is already certified as suicide due to hanging,” he said.

Anjana, who was a student of Brennen College and a native of Kasaragod, had come out as a bisexual person to her family, following which she was allegedly forced into conversion therapy – an illegal, pseudoscientific attempt that claims to ‘cure’ queer and trans persons, change people’s sexual orientation or gender. Anjana spoke about being forcibly taken to de-addiction centres by the family in a video she posted on Facebook in March 2020. After coming back from the centre, she went away with her friends. The family had filed a missing person complaint with the police, but on calling Anjana to the station, she told the police that she chose to leave with her friends. There has also been controversy surrounding whether Anjana had faced sexual violence in Goa. Her friend Gargi, in a television show, said that there was attempt of sexual assault on Anjana while she was at the resort. Gargi added that the accused in the attempt was not part of Anjana's group of friends.

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Read: Kerala student dies in Goa, death puts focus on inhuman 'conversion therapy' on queer people