JOIN USThe parents of city-based pianist Karan Joseph, who died in Mumbai after he jumped from the 12th floor of a building on September 9, believe that their son did not commit suicide and there was foul play in his death.
They suspect the involvement of Rishi Shah, at whose apartment Karan was staying and where the tragedy occurred. They demanded that the case should be investigated as a murder and the role of Shah and others should be thoroughly looked into.
According to the parents, Shah, CEO of Crossbones Media, had befriended Joseph after listening to him at a performance in August. Shah apparently wanted Karan to sign an exclusive contract with him for his magazine RAVE and wanted him to stop playing with other musicians.
“Rishi requested us to come to Mumbai to discuss the contract. This is why my wife and I went to Mumbai. On meeting us in August, he made tall promises and we blindly believed him, assuming he had Karan’s best interests at heart,” Karan’s father Dr Thomas Joseph said in a press statement.
Shah also offered to buy Karan an expensive keyboard called ‘The Prophet’. However, Shah did not mention the contract in his statement to the Mumbai police, the parents say.
Thomas raised the issue of several messages that Karan had sent to his friends the night before and on the morning of the incident. The messages indicated that he feared for his life and someone was intimidating him.
They pointed out that
evidence may have been tampered with or destroyed as the police did not seal the apartment till 2.30 pm, though the body was taken away at 9 am. Rishi and a few others were in the apartment when Karan fell to his death.
Media reports denied
They denied reports in the media that Karan had been depressed and was financially troubled.
Thomas said his wife received a WhatsApp message from Shah’s secretary on September 11, threatening of consequences if the parents did not help them control the situation. Karan had earned a scholarship to study music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA.
He had been performing at various venues in New York for two years, before he moved back to India. Karan had been based in Mumbai since March 2013.