The Forensic Department of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi has constituted a medical board of three senior doctors to probe the cause of death of MG George Muthoot, the chairman of the Muthoot Group. George Muthoot died on Friday night after he fell from the fourth storey of his house in New Delhi’s East of Kailash. The incident took place around 9.20 pm on Friday.
AIIMS conducted George Muthoot’s postmortem on Saturday morning. Speaking to TNM, Dr Sudhir Kumar Gupta, professor and Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine in AIIMS, said that they are not ruling out any aspect and since it is a case of fall from a height, it is considered “not a natural death.”
“We have videographed the postmortem. Procedures were also done for further laboratory test, histological and chemical tests. We are now keeping the opinion pending, and only after that can we ascertain if it is a suicide or an accident or a case of homocide,” he said, adding that they are neither ruling or ruling out any aspect.
The team will look at three angles. One, whether the injury that George Muthoot sustained is consistent with a fall from a four-storey building; second, whether there is a sign of intoxication on the body, for which a chemical test is required. “We also want to understand the antemortem or postmortem injuries,” Dr Gupta said.
Cases of fall from a height will have various patterns of injuries. They will scale the severity of the injuries accordingly.
The forensic team of AIIMS will start the assessment on Monday. “We will be able to arrive at a conclusion within a week or 10 days,” he said, adding, “It will be a fair report.”
Meanwhile, an official from the Amar Colony police station (South East Delhi), which is investigating the case, told TNM that according to CCTV visuals, George Muthoot was seen going to the terrace around 6.40 pm. The police, however, couldn't conclude anything, if it was a death by suicide or he died after accidentally falling from the terrace. “The CCTV of the apartment didn't cover the wall of the terrace and hence we couldn't trace how he fell. So far, we have neither found any evidence of foul play nor the family has come out with any allegations,” he said.
George Muthoot is survived by his wife Sara George and two sons, George M George (the executive director of the group) and Alexander George (the director of the group). His second son, Paul Muthoot George, was murdered in 2009.
George Muthoot became the Managing Director of the Muthoot Group in 1979 and the Chairman of the group in February 1993. He was also a lay trustee of the Orthodox Church in Kerala, a member of the national executive committee of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( FICCI ) and headed the FICCI Kerala council.
(With input from Saritha S Balan)