NEED TO KNOW
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Sonam Kshatriya’s death was ruled a suicide when her ex-boyfriend found her hanging in her closet in 2019
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The funeral director sent her body back to the medical examiner for an autopsy because of “troubling” bruising found all over her body, court documents state
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Her family is asking the medical examiner to change the manner of death so police can reinvestigate
The unthinkable happened on Sept. 16, 2019, when Sonam Kshatriya’s ex-boyfriend said he found the athletic, young professional dead in the walk-in closet of her New York City apartment.
Sonam’s lifeless body, he told police, was hanging by the belt of her terrycloth bathrobe, which was tied to an overhead bar in the closet of her upscale apartment in Manhattan.
Her body was taken to the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), where Dr. Julian Samuel ruled the 27-year-old’s death a suicide.
Knowing how much the Columbia University graduate who worked in the music publishing industry had to look forward to, her family immediately questioned the medical examiner’s ruling, insisting there was no way she would ever take her own life.
Their concerns only grew when the funeral director preparing her body for cremation told the family he found extensive bruises on her body that were “significant and troubling,” according to a petition filed by her family in New York State Supreme Court in February 2023 and obtained by PEOPLE.
Fearing foul play, the funeral director sent Sonam’s body back to the ME’s office for an autopsy.
Samuel performed an autopsy on Sept. 18, 2019 — but kept the manner of death as suicide.
Determined to learn the truth about Sonam’s death, her family has spent years in court pushing to change the ruling and urging police to properly investigate evidence they believe suggests she was murdered.
In May 2024, a New York State Supreme Court judge denied her family’s 2023 petition asking to change the manner of death — even with multiple experts contending in the filings that Sonam did not die by suicide and had been injured in a struggle right before she died. In June 2024, the family filed a notice of appeal and are currently awaiting a decision from the New York State Appeals Court.
“This is an important case,” says the family’s attorney, Joseph Podraza, of Lamb McErlane, PC, in Philadelphia.
“Every citizen in New York state should be concerned about this case because medical examiners wield so much power and discretion in these matters as to essentially be virtually unchecked.”
In Sonam’s case, claims Podraza, “There is considerable evidence that would point to her death having been a homicide and found staged as a suicide to hide the fact of the homicide.”
Questions About Sonam’s Final Hours
Sonam and her ex-boyfriend, who is not named in the court documents and has not been charged with any crime in connection with her death, had broken up months before her death, investigators said, according to the petition.
He still had limited access to her apartment to walk and feed the dog they shared when she was at work, the petition states.
Two weeks before her death, his access was restricted by the building manager “upon Sonam’s explicit request,” the petition alleges.
On Friday, Sept. 13, her ex-boyfriend made an “unexpected visit” to the building that “startled” Sonam, the petition alleges.
On Saturday, Sept. 14, Sonam received a text from the ex-boyfriend, “a competitive Jiu Jitsu fighter, suggesting he and Sonam watch a pay-per-view UFC fight at her apartment that night,” it says.
The ex-boyfriend claimed he left the apartment at 7 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15, the petition alleges. He said he returned to the apartment on Monday, Sept. 16, to walk their dog, which is when he said he found her body.
Cellphone records show she didn’t use or access her phone after 12:16 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019, according to the petition.
She was found dead in the same clothes she was seen wearing on Saturday, the petition says.
Suspicious Blood Smears
Sonam had dried blood around her nose but none on her hands when she was found. But the belt she allegedly used to hang herself was smeared with blood, which Podraza says makes no sense.
According to a neuropathologist they consulted, “That indicates from the mechanics of it that a third party was literally raising her, and in doing so, got her blood on their hands and smeared it on those portions of the belt,” Podraza says.
Until the blood smear on the ligature is better explained, Podraza believes, “you can’t rule out the presence of a third party.”
“At minimum,” he adds, “further investigation is demanded.”
A lawyer with the New York City Law Department, which represents the OCME and Daniel, said in a statement to PEOPLE that “the Law Department is not commenting while this litigation is active.”
Read the original article on People
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