The police said the lecturer killed himself on the railway tracks. (Representational)

A guest lecturer at Delhi's St Stephen's College, who was found dead on a railway track on Sunday, had started isolating himself after "malicious" news reports were published against him and his mother, his friends said on Monday.

The 27-year-old professor's mother was found hanging from a ceiling fan with a piece of cloth stuffed in her mouth at their home in Delhi's Pitampura.

A close friend recalled that he used to frequently speak to the professor and after their last conversation, he thought things were finally getting better.

"I last spoke to him on October 6. It was a good conversation. We spoke for over 30 minutes. I enquired about aunty. We spoke about our fields of specialisation and from our talks, I got a good feeling that finally things were getting better,"

However, after the news reports in Kerala showing his mother in bad light appeared, he stopped receiving calls and responding to his messages.

"A friend, who was with him when I called told me later that he did not attend the call thinking that I must have read those reports and called him for the same," Pereira told PTI over phone.

He said he knew the professor for nearly nine years and was also aware that he was very conscious about his reputation. "He would get upset even over small issues. He did not like talking about his personal matters to anyone," his friend said,

Another close friend of the professor said ever since his father passed away, he and his mother faced a series of problems but stayed strong.

"He shared a unique relationship with all his friends. He called me up recently to wish me for my exam and cheered me up, saying I would definitely clear it. He did share with us his family issues, but he was a little secretive about the case registered against them in Kerala. But he used to discuss it with our friends in Delhi," he said, requesting anonymity.

"He lost his father when he was in the final year of college. Later, he ensured that his mother remarried despite opposition from his elder brother," another friend said.

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