After a final autopsy report in February concluded that 26-year-old OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji had died by suicide in his San Francisco apartment on November 26 last year, his family rejected the findings, calling them riddled with “tons of inconsistencies”. His mother, Poornima Ramarao, has now shared a video of a San Francisco Police Department officer handling evidence at the scene without wearing gloves.
“This is the video of SFPD touching the evidence without gloves. They contaminated the crime scene instead of collecting fingerprints, DNA and footprints,” Poornima Ramarao wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
She asked, “Were they paid or was this a hate crime?” adding, “They owe an answer.”
Ramarao also described the mishandling of evidence as a “violation of constitutional rights”.
The 29-second-long video shows an officer touching evidence and taking notes in Balaji’s apartment – all without wearing gloves.
This is the video of SFPD touching the evidence with out gloves. They contaminated crime scene instead of collecting finger prints, DNA and foot prints.
Were they paid or this is was hate crime ? They owe an answer.@AGPamBondi @HarmeetKDhillon
Violation of constitutional… pic.twitter.com/xuW4HUwRqV— Poornima Rao (@RaoPoornima) April 8, 2025
In yet another social media post, Suchir’s mother shared a photo of her son and wrote, “This happy, genius and handsome young man was killed for standing up for humanity. SFPD and OCME cooperated in murder by covering up.” She further claimed that “his constitutional rights were violated, preventing justice”.
This happy, genius and handsome young man was killed for standing up for humanity. SFPD and OCME cooperated in murder by covering up.
His constitutional rights were violated , preventing justice.@AGPamBondi @HarmeetKDhillon @Kash_Patel pic.twitter.com/8vRo2sCpXq
— Poornima Rao (@RaoPoornima) April 8, 2025
A post from an account dedicated to seeking justice for Suchir Balaji commented on the video: “This is an absolute scandal and an unacceptable violation of procedures at a crime scene. How can one talk about a thorough investigation if basic forensic principles are ignored?”
OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji was found dead by a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his San Francisco apartment after accusing the artificial intelligence company of violating copyright law.
“Why is there no investigation?” asked another.
A third said, “Whistleblowers need to be protected or they will never come forward.”
“Why is Elon not talking about this case now? We need answers,” commented a fourth. Elon Musk, in December last year, responded to a post by Ramarao, stating, “This doesn’t seem like a suicide”.
Balaji’s mother had shared: “We hired a private investigator and did a second autopsy to throw light on the cause of death. Private autopsy doesn’t confirm cause of death stated by police. Suchir’s apartment was ransacked, a sign of struggle in the bathroom, and it looks like someone hit him in the bathroom based on blood spots. It’s a cold-blooded murder declared by authorities as suicide.”
A fifth chimed in: “Because they already were instructed to call it suicide regardless of two gun shits to the top of the head, broken cheekbone, lacerations, and much more. Corruption.”
“Shocking and disgraceful,” wrote yet another.