Research scholar Pushpam Kumar Sinha, accused in the murder of Manipur teen Ramchanphy Hongray, was married in 2003 but his wife Poonam left him five years later, the police have said.

His wife was unable to adjust to his ‘behaviour’, Deputy Commissioner HGS Dhaliwal said on Tuesday.

Officers said the two are not divorced but have not kept in touch since 2008. They said Sinha came to Delhi to pursue a doctoral degree from IIT after his wife walked out.

Investigations have revealed that the 34-year-old was also facing an internal inquiry in IIT after several of his students complained to the dean about his ‘rude and indecent’ behaviour.

Dhaliwal said: “A two-member committee was formed to look into these complaints. The report was expected today.”

Meanwhile, the victim’s counsel has questioned the Delhi Police’s repeated insinuations that Sinha is of unsound mental health. The police produced him before a magistrate on Tuesday - after his one-day remand was over — and told the judge that Sinha was a “psychopath and a pervert”.

The bereaved family’s lawyer RA Worso Zimik told Newsline that questioning Sinha’s mental stability at such an early stage in the trial might create an opportunity for him to plead insanity. He said: “The police must know that unsoundness of mind is a defence under criminal laws and a convict can escape strict punishment by claiming so.”

Investigators, however, continued to question Sinha’s mental state in court on Tuesday. The Delhi Police put forward opinions by several medical experts and said the contents of Sinha’s personal diary and laptop substantiate that his cognitive faculties were not proper and that he was a ‘maniac’.

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