Father of murder suspect seeks probe

Hyderabad: The family of V.S. Jyothirmayee, who was allegedly murdered by her roommate in Birmingham, has denied that she had an affair with him while the suspect's father has demanded a probe into the killing.

Jyothirmayee's father, V. Naga Saibaba, said that the family was disturbed by reports that she was in love with the boy, N. Nagraj Kumar, and that a quarrel led to her murder.

He said it was unfair on the part of some news channels to spread "falsehoods" about a woman brutally killed.

"These reports have disturbed us. My daughter had an excellent academic record and she had no affair with anybody," said Saibaba.

Some family members, however, said she had not informed her parents that she was sharing the apartment with a boy. They were informed that she was living with some Telugu-speaking girls.

Found murdered

Jyothirmayee, who was doing a master's degree in public health from the University of Wolverhampton, was found murdered Tuesday night and Kumar was lying injured in the house they were sharing on the outskirts of Birmingham.

Two days later, the West Midlands Police charged Kumar with the murder. He had allegedly inflicted injuries on himself to mislead the police.

Kumar's father N. Shivanarayana is not ready to believe that his son is a murderer.

"The whole incident appears to be mysterious because my son's friends had told me that the girl died and my son was injured in the attack by some blacks," he said.

"The British police should conduct a thorough probe. If my son did anything wrong, punish him but it should be done only after investigations. It is unfair to brand him a murderer before the investigations are completed," said Shivanarayana.

Both Kumar's father and mother V. Vageshwari are principals in private colleges here. Family members said Vageshwari fainted after hearing that her son was arrested on murder charges and had to be taken to hospital.

Shivanarayana said he had no knowledge that his son was having an affair with a fellow student.

"He never mentioned her during conversations over phone with me. My son is calm and quiet and known for his gentle nature. He was never violent. I don't believe that he murdered the girl," he said.

Kumar, like Jyothirmayee, had gone to Britain in September last year on the same consultancy. They did their bachelors in physiotherapy in India in 2005 and went to Britain along with four others to pursue higher education.