Woman lives with mother's decomposing body for nearly 4 days inside her house

A woman in India was found living with the decomposing body of her 61-year-old mother inside their home.

On Sunday, the police said the incident came to light after the neighbors complained of a foul stench emanating from the house. The authorities arrived at the scene in the Tangra area in the city of Kolkata, and forced open the main door of the house to find the woman lying next to the body of an elderly person, The Indian Express reported. The victim was identified as Krishna Das.

Preliminary investigation revealed Das had died four days ago, based on the state of decomposition.

"An investigation is underway to find out if she died of natural causes. The body was sent for post-mortem (autopsy) examination. It was recovered in a decomposed state and we suspect it might have been lying unattended inside the house for four days," a police officer told The Indian Express.

Neighbors told the police Das had been living at the residence with her daughter for a few years. The daughter was unmarried and believed to be mentally unstable, according to Millennium Post. Residents of the area also told the police the daughter was an introvert and was not close to any person apart from her mother.

The police said they are trying to verify if the daughter's mental health condition is unstable. She is currently receiving treatment at NRS Hospital in the city.

Last year, a woman was arrested for keeping her mother's corpse for over eight months at her home. The incident took place in the western city of Mumbai. The police arrived at the home after receiving complaints from the neighbors that she was throwing garbage outside her window. Later, it was found the woman was keeping her mother's body in one of the rooms.

An investigation revealed the woman's 83-year-old mother died in March 2020, and she was living with the corpse up until November 2020. A neighbor told local media at the time the woman found it difficult to make friends. "This could be the reason she didn't reach out to her neighbors when her mother died. She had no friends and probably didn't know what to do. We could have arranged for her mother's funeral. She was a lovely lady," the neighbor told the media.