A 24-year-old Russian woman, Alexandra Djavi, who according to the local police, hung herself from a ceiling fan in a rented home in a North Goa village on Aug 19, had been previously harassed in Chennai in 2019 by a photographer for sexual favours, a lawyer for the Russian consulate in Mumbai said on Saturday.

The Goa-based lawyer Vikram Varma also said that the post mortems on the remains of Djavi, as well as 34-year-old Ekaterina Titova who was also found dead in her rented apartment in a separate incident, would be conducted in presence of Russian consular officials soon.

“Regarding the 24-year-old, Alexandra, we have received information that she had been blackmailed in 2019 for sexual favours and after a preliminary enquiry, the Chennai Police had registered an FIR. But this is preliminary information and we hope that the Goa Police will investigate the matter thoroughly and rule out any possible suspicion in her death,” Varma said.

The FIR, which Varma has referred to, was registered in Chennai in 2019 after Djavi accused a photographer of harassing her for sexual favours.

“Matter of death and especially where the death involves a young person, the levels of suspicion have to be very high and we should rule out any possibility of homicide, because people who commit murder, sometimes they disguise their acts in such a clever manner that it appears like a suicide or an accident,” Varma said.

The bodies of Djavi and Titova were recovered from their respective rented apartments in Siolim on October 19 and 20.

According to the North Goa Superintendent of Police Shobhit Saxena, prima facie any foul play has been ruled out.

“Prima facie cause of death was asserted as hanging and in the other case a 34-year-old Russian passport holder lady was found dead in her bedroom. In both cases we are following legal procedure, which is, we have informed the embassy to appoint a representative and inquest proceedings in the meantime are ongoing,” Saxena said.

“Once the representative is assigned, further medico-legal formalities such as post mortem examination will be conducted. In the meantime, we are not suspecting any foul play as of now. However, we will wait for a statement from representatives and the final decision on the cause of death by the medico-legal examination,” he also said, adding that the Goa Police had written to Russian consular officials to appoint a representative for carrying out the post mortem formalities.