‘Sweet & Jovial’: Friends Remember St Stephen’s Prof Alan Stanley

Alan and his mother allegedly killed themselves over an abetment of suicide case over his step-father’s death.

Born and schooled in Kerala’s Kottayam, Stanley enrolled in St Stephen’s College in Delhi for an undergraduate degree in Chemistry in 2010.

(Photo: Erum Gour/The Quint)

A “sweet and jovial” guy who used to “pull everyone out of sadness” – is how friends of Alan Stanley, a professor at St Stephen’s College who allegedly killed himself, remember him.

Stanley’s decapitated body was found on railway tracks and his mother found hanging from a ceiling fan, her mouth stuffed with cloth, at their flat in Delhi’s Pitampura on Sunday, 20 October.

Chemistry Student Who Attended History Lectures

Born and schooled in Kerala’s Kottayam, Stanley enrolled in St Stephen’s College in Delhi for an undergraduate degree in Chemistry in 2010.

As the police is investigating Stanley’s death, neither of his friends we contacted wanted to be identified lest they impede the investigation.

“He was a very avid reader and loved debating on history and philosophy. In college, he used to take special permission and attend lectures for History Hons students,”a friend of Stanley’s said.

He read voraciously – a habit which eventually led him to drop Chemistry and pursue higher studies in Arts.

“Alan’s favourite book was Sophie’s World. It is probably one of the reasons he decided to pursue philosophy after his graduation,” another friend said.

Sophie’s World is a book by Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder. It follows the life of Sophie Amundsen, a Norwegian teenager, introduced to the history of philosophy by a middle-aged philosopher.

“His bookshelf also had a huge collection of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He was always a more ‘artsy’ student than a ‘sciencee’,” the friend further said.

After St Stephen’s, Stanley pursed his Masters in Philosophy from Hyderabad Central University where he was among the class toppers. During his time at HCU, he cleared NET and JRF, which made him eligible to be a professor.

He later enrolled for his PhD in IIT Delhi where he was researching the philosophy of chemistry.

Stanley’s love for food and travel was well-known. He “knew all the best kebab shops in Chandni Chowk”.

“He used to plan spontaneous trips and has been on solo trips to Ladakh multiple times,” his friends added.

He was passionate about music and his friends say Alan often held Malayalam, Tamil or Telugu songs’ face-off with his friends in college. He particularly fond of Yesudas and old Hindi music, which he sang beautifully.

‘Was Always Concerned About Mother’

Stanley’s father passed away in 2013, right before his final semester exams.

“He lost his father during the final semester exams. He was not told of the news till after the exams were over. But he handled the situation very calmly,” said a friend.

“He always wanted to prove to his father that he is very capable. He was a very motivated and ambitious boy,” another friend recalled.

Soon after, in 2016, Stanley’s mother, Lissy, remarried.

“I met him at a wedding after his mother’s second marriage. He seemed really happy and even called his step-father ‘Dad’. Even his mother was very happy because she now had a companion,” said one of Stanley’s friends from college.

It is after his step-father’s death in 2018, Alan grew more worried about his mother. A few months later, he moved out of IIT Delhi and to his Pitampura apartment and asked his mother to stay with him.

Alan’s friends say he was very concerned about his mother and that she may be lonely, thus, was ecstatic when he landed the job of an ad-hoc professor at St Stephen’s this year as it allowed him to take care of her.

“After his step-father’s death, property issues cropped up and Alan had to go to the police and deal with law and order. It shattered him. He kept saying that he didn’t know what to do and he was at no fault,” a friend said.

“Alan was a proud man. His self-respect was everything to him. I don’t know for sure, but I think article in the newspapers that got circulated in Kottayam, blaming his mother for his step-father’s death was the last straw. He couldn’t take it,” the friend said.