On October 20, the police found the decapitated body of Alan Stanley, a guest lecturer at Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College, on railway tracks near Sarai Rohilla station in the national capital. The same night, a friend went looking for Stanley at his residence in Pitampura. There, he found Stanley’s mother, Lissy, hanging from the ceiling, her mouth stuffed with a cloth. Stanley was from Kottayam, Kerala, and Lissy had recently moved to the capital to stay with her son.
The police suspect that Stanley helped his mother commit suicide before killing himself. A note found at their home — signed by Stanley and his mother — lists “mental tension”, “depression”, and “a misinformation campaign by a few media outlets” as the reasons for their suicide, said a Delhi police official who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
The “misinformation campaign” apparently refers to the Kerala media’s coverage of the death of Lissy’s second husband — and Stanley’s stepfather — John Wilson in December 2018.
After his father’s death, Wilson’s son from his first marriage filed a suit in the Kerala High Court, accusing Lissy of coercing his father into transferring huge amounts of money into her bank account. On the basis of the case brought by Wilson’s son, the Kerala police charged Lissy and Stanely with abetment to suicide. They were out on anticipatory bail.
Stanely’s friends claim “exaggerated and sensationalised” coverage of this case by a section of the Malayali media is what drove him and Lissy to suicide. By way of an example, they point to a story published by Malayala Manorama on October 15 that portrayed Lissy as the culprit behind Wilson’s death. The news websites Marunadan Malayali and Malayali Vartha followed up on the story, perpetuating this narrative.
“The authority to issue a verdict lies with the judiciary, not with Manorama or Marunadan,” Stanley’s friend, Rajiv Gerald Pereira, wrote on Facebook.
Referring to the October 15 Manorama article, another friend, Anna Thomas, posted: “Alan was deeply affected by it. Alan, for whom things had just started to become better, was driven to suicide by Manorama and Marunadan news outlets.”
TD Thomas, a family friend, told The New Indian Express, “Alan and Lissy told me that they couldn’t stand the media trial and requested me to file a case seeking CBI enquiry into Wilson’s death…He told me he would not be able to face his students and wanted to end his life because the allegations were coming out in print and social media.”
These reports came despite the police clarifying that they had not yet found evidence to substantiate the allegations of Wilson’s son. In fact, even the day after Stanley and Lissy were found dead, TA Anthony, deputy superintendent of police, Idukki, who is leading the investigation, told PTI, “We are checking the treatment history of John. It shows he was suffering from depression, but no specific reason has come out so far. There is no evidence at present that says Lissy conspired to cause his death. In fact, the money was transferred to her account while Wilson was alive and there is a probability he did it of his own will.”
Manorama did not concern itself with what the police were saying. Its October 15 report assumes a malevolent reason behind Lissy’s marriage to Wilson. Roughly translated, it says about Lissy: “She separated colleagues, friends, servants from Wilson, and transferred around ₹3 crore to her account, as mentioned in the complaint filed by John’s children.”
Marunadan Malayali was no better. It published a report on October 18 claiming that Lissy “used her tricks to distance Wilson from his son from the first wife”. “A transfer of ₹2 crore was made from the account holding ₹6 crore,” the report adds. “Was he slowly driven to depression and suicidal thoughts? His relatives are suspicious. They think that Lissy poisoned John’s food, making him incapable of thinking straight. The relatives allege that a healthy John was driven to suicide by Lissy, and that his death within two years of marriage is evidence of that.”
Stanley’s PhD supervisor Sanil V told The Indian Express that “everyone was aware that mother and son were very disturbed by reports in Malayalam newspapers, connecting them to his stepfather’s death”. “We are going to pursue the matter legally,” he added, “and demand that there be some kind of guidelines on how reporting is done.”
Responding to these allegations, Riju M, editor of Marunadan Malayali, denied any malice on the part of the media outlet. “Marunadan has only reported the news based on quotes from the petitioners and only against the mother and not against the son Alan and that too only on the basis of the complaint filed,” he told Huffington Post. “Marunadan has not created this news as a figment of imagination as is criticised, but according to the inputs of the crime branch team and the petitioners.”
Soymon Mathew, chief editor of Malayali Vartha, told Newslaundry that his website only factually reported the case around Wilson’s death and never accused Lissy of killing her husband. “If you see our reports, they just talk about John Wilson’s death and his relatives’ complaint. We did not add any masala, or tried sensationalising the news.”
When it was pointed out to him that their reports did not feature Lissy’s side, he replied, “I agree that her version of the story should have been taken as well. We saw Malayala Manorama running a full article and followed suit. But you’re right, we should not be careless as it affects the lives of people.”
Mathew, however, insisted that it’s extreme to say that a few reports led to somebody taking their life. “It was not just Vartha, Marunadan or Manorama. Every other portal here was publishing similar stories,” he added. “Yes, we should have contacted Lissy’s family or relatives. We couldn’t get her contact and by the time we knew her son was studying at St Stephen’s College, the story was already up.”
Newslaundry contacted Manorama too for comment. This report will be updated if a response is received.
Note: If you need support or know someone who does, please contact a mental health specialist. You can also call 24×7 suicide prevention helplines such as Vandrevala Foundation for Mental Health at 1860-2662-345 and 1800-2333-330, and Sneha Foundation at 91-44-24640050.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
