Steve Rawlings, the Oxford University professor found dead at the home of his colleague and close friend Devinder Sivia on Wednesday, allegedly following a “violent” altercation, had stress-related psychiatric problems and suffered a breakdown last year, it has emerged as his family rejected suggestions that he was murdered calling it simply a “tragic accident”.
Police, too, appeared to rule out murder and were reported to be examining any underlying health issues he may have had after a post-mortem proved inconclusive. They said the death may now be “a matter for a coroner's inquest rather than a criminal court”.
“BEST FRIENDS”
According to The Oxford News, detectives indicated that Dr. Sivia who was arrested and later released on bail “may be cleared of any responsibility” for Prof. Rawlings' death while his wife Linda said that the men had been “best friends” since their college days and she did not believe that her husband was murdered.
“I do not believe Devinder should be tarnished,” she said.
Dr. Sivia's 80-year-old father Gurbaksh Sivia, who lives in Kent, said his son and Prof. Rawlings were “like brothers” and had known each other since their days at Cambridge University in the 1980s.
“They were very, very good friends, inseparable friends. They were like brothers. My son is a good son and a dedicated teacher. He has very simple habits — he never drinks, he never smokes. It's unimaginable,” he said.
Dr. Sivia was reported to have given a “full account” of the incident to the police claiming that he acted in “self-defence”.
Prof. Rawlings (50), a highly-regarded astrophysicist was a fellow at St Peter's College, and Dr. Sivia (49), teaches mathematics at St John's College. The incident happened when the men returned to Dr. Sivia's home in Oxfordshire after an evening meal at a local pub. The pub staff said they only had tap water to drink and did not consume any alcohol.
A close friend of Prof. Rawlings', who did not want to be named, claimed talking to him to him at length just hours before he died. He appeared “very troubled” and talked of quitting his job at Oxford. He reportedly said that he was going to seek further advice from Dr. Sivia.
“He knocked on my door and wanted to chat. This must have been around 4p.m. on Wednesday. I could tell he wanted to get some things off his chest. He had a very intense job and he was a very intense person. He had had a breakdown last year and on that occasion was found wandering around the village in his dressing gown in the middle of the night,” the friend said.
