Father to return with Souvik Pal's body by next week

Souvik Pal, a 19-year-old student of Manchester Metropolitan University, had been missing since a New Year's Eve party in Trafford, Greater Manchester, until his body was discovered by police on Tuesday.

A post-mortem proved inconclusive and further toxicology test results are awaited to determine the cause of his death.

"These results are expected by Monday, when the body should be with the funeral directors. I am hoping to be able to fly back to India with Souvik's body by next Wednesday," said his father Santanu Pal.

The father had travelled from his home in Bangalore to the UK to help with the search and made several appeals for information on his son's whereabouts.

Pal remembered his son as a student with distinct creative skills while the Vice Chancellor of his University rued at a great potential lost to untimely death.

"It is very tough to accept that he is no more but I have to gradually come back to reality and think about his mother and younger brother. He was a very loving and caring person and that is what he will be remembered as.

"Souvik was a very creative boy and his painting skills were incredible. I will soon be getting all his paintings and other belongings together from his college," he added.

Professor John Brooks, vice-chancellor at Manchester Metropolitan University, described Souvik as a very sociable and affable young man who embraced his studies and had a real passion for design engineering.

"He was a fine student with great potential