Musician and writer Manoj Nair was found dead at his rented house at Saudi, Fort Kochi, on Saturday afternoon.
Originally from Irinjalakkuda in Thrissur district, Mr. Nair, in his 50s, had been living alone in Fort Kochi since 2010. He was associated with Kochi Muziris Biennale since its inception and had been working on a book, Between the Rock and a Hard Place, on the history of alternative music in India, which was set to hit the stands next year. He had worked as a journalist covering music and art in the past.
His landlord Derson Antony had first witnessed the body in a decomposed state around 12 noon. “The body seemed to be some three to four days old and decomposition had set in. There were no injuries on the body and as of now we don’t suspect any foul play behind the death. However, the cause of death would be known only after post mortem, which would be done as soon as the relatives are here,” said K. Saji, sub inspector, Thoppumpady.
Police conducted the inquest and the body was moved to the mortuary. A case for unnatural death has been registered under Section 174 of CrPC. The Hindu Metro Plus had done a cover story on the deceased musician on Friday. Going by the police account, he probably did not survive to see it.
Mr. Antony said he had last spoken to the victim around three days ago. “He told me that he was sick and when I asked him to go for medicines he said that he was broke,” he said. Mr. Antony had give him a call on Friday and his mobile phone was switched off. His attempt to reach him on Saturday morning also met with the same fate. But that didn’t invoke any suspicions since the victim was known to work late into the night and woke up late.
When another call around 11.30 a.m. also met with a switch-off message, Mr. Antony dropped in at his house. “He used to sleep without locking the door. As soon as i entered, a strong odour hit me and he was found lying on his bed. I tried to wake him up only to see flies take off from near his head. That gave me the impression that something was wrong,” said Mr. Antony, who informed two artist friends of the victim followed by the police.