Police sources said Partha de, 47, had been living with the remains of his dead sister and two dogs.
A trail of smoke from the bathroom brought the police to the doors of a flat in central Kolkata's Robinson Lane this morning. Inside, they found a burnt body, a skeleton, bags of bones and a man who is apparently mentally unstable.
In a case of extreme isolation in the heart of Kolkata -- a city known so far for its warmth and friendliness -- Partha De, 44, and his father Arabinda De, 77, had been living with the remains of Partha's dead sister and two dogs since last December.
Police found the body of Arabinda De in the bathroom -- he had apparently set himself on fire, they said. Preliminary investigations indicated that the bathroom door was locked from the inside, an officer said.
During questioning, Mr De, an engineer, said he had quit his job in the TCS around seven years ago, police sources said. His sister Debjani, who was 50, used to work as a music teacher in an English medium school.
But after their two dogs died in August 2014, she fell victim to a bout of depression and quit eating. She died four months later, De reportedly said.
According to the police officer, Mr De said he loved her and the dogs so much, he did not cremate them. He kept her body, and the remains of the two dogs in his bedroom. Apparently, he suffered from hallucinations that her soul visited them for dinner every night.
The woman's skeleton, the police said, was found fully clothed, a lot of food was found lying around it. The remains have been sent for forensic examination.
The police have found diaries written by Mr De in which there are accounts of an unhappy upbringing.
There was some property dispute going on between Arabinda De and his brother Arun De, who lives nearby. But neither his brother, nor his neighbours, apparently had a clue about the state of affairs in the flat.