Indian Professor Kills His Oxford Colleague in Self Defence

On the night of January 11, 2012, Oxford astrophysicist Steven Rawlings died at the home of his oldest friend, mathematician Dr Devinderjit Sivia, in the village of Southmoor, Oxfordshire. What happened in that house was a tragedy in two acts: a mental health crisis, and a desperate act of self-defense that ended a life.

Who were they?

Steven Rawlings, 50, was a professor of astrophysics at Oxford and a fellow of St Peter's College, one of the lead scientists on the Square Kilometre Array project. Devinderjit Sivia, 49, was a mathematics lecturer who co-authored science mathematics textbooks with Rawlings. The two had been friends since the 1980s, when both were undergraduates at St John's College, Cambridge. Their co-written book, Foundations of Science Mathematics, was published by Oxford University Press in 1999.

What happened that night?

Rawlings had suffered a complete nervous breakdown in April 2011 and spent time in an Oxford hospital. On the evening of January 11, he visited Sivia's home and, in a state of confusion and agitation, launched an unprovoked attack, threatening to kill Sivia and punching him in the face.

Fearing for his safety, Sivia grabbed his friend in a headlock and pinned him to the ground. The hold cut off Rawlings's air supply, and combined with the elevated adrenaline of his agitated state, it triggered a fatal heart attack. A neighbor who tried to resuscitate him could not save him.

What did the authorities conclude?

Sivia was arrested on suspicion of murder, but the Crown Prosecution Service later dropped the case. At the inquest, Oxford coroner Darren Salter recorded a verdict of accidental death: Rawlings died of cardiac arrest after an unprovoked attack on his friend, and Sivia had restrained him to protect himself.

Rawlings's wife Linda told the inquest the death was a tragic accident. "Steve and Devinder were best friends since college," she said. "I do not believe Steve's death is murder."

The questions left behind

The case was a collision of two failures: a mental health system that could not hold a brilliant, deteriorating man, and a moment in which the only available response was physical force. Sivia, described as a devout Sikh and a gentle man, was left with the knowledge that saving his own life had cost his closest friend's.

In 2013, the LOFAR radio telescope station at Chilbolton Observatory was named the Rawlings Array in the professor's honor.

FAQ

What was the coroner's verdict? Accidental death. The coroner found that Rawlings died of cardiac arrest during restraint after an unprovoked attack, and that Sivia acted to protect himself.

Was Sivia charged? He was arrested on suspicion of murder but the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case.

What caused Rawlings's mental health crisis? He had suffered a complete breakdown in April 2011 and been hospitalized. His wife told the inquest she believed it was unrelated to an antimalarial drug he had taken years earlier in Kenya.

How long had they known each other? Since the 1980s, as undergraduates at St John's College, Cambridge.

The takeaway

There are tragedies with no villain, only victims. Sivia did what anyone would do when attacked by someone they loved. The real failure happened long before that night, in the months when a brilliant mind was coming apart and nobody could put it back together.