Man, who is mentally ill, was living with his father's body, police officer said. (Representational)
Police on Thursday recovered the semi-decomposed body of an elderly man from a house in the Kolkata's Behala area where his son allegedly kept the corpse with him for the last five days.
Police received a call from Ashok Kumar Ghosh, the elder son of Rabindranath Ghosh (85), who informed them that his younger brother Ajit Kumar Ghosh, who is mentally ill, was living with their father's body, a senior police officer said.
"Going by the state of the body's decomposition, it seems the old man had died around four to five days ago. The younger son did not inform his elder brother and was living with the body since then," he said.
The elder son, who stays in a nearby house in the same locality of Parnasree area in the southern part of the city, came to his father's house and was struck by a pungent smell, the officer said.
"At that time Ajit was not at home and Ashok, after finding the body, called us," he said.
"Ajit was very depressed. It seems he was very down at the death of his father and could not accept the fact. Thus, he continued living with his father's body and did not even inform his elder brother," the officer said.
Police detained Ajit and was trying to talk to him about the matter, he said, adding that a psychologist may also be consulted for the purpose.
The body was sent for post-mortem examination while a case was initiated at the Parnasree Police Station.