KOLKATA: Partha De, the 47-year-old software engineer who was found living with the skeletons of his sister and two pet dogs at their ancestral Robinson Street house for over six months, was found dead with his body in a charred state, on Tuesday.
Police suspect suicide having found a half-empty bottle of kerosene and burnt matches besides the charred body inside the bathroom of his 11th floor apartment. The body was discovered by his caretaker who had to break into the apartment on Tuesday morning as it was locked from inside. It has been sent for post-mortem. According to sources, Partha—who has been residing there over the past one year—was very introvert and never spoke to any of his neighbours.
Earlier, the police had stumbled upon the skeletons of De's elder sister and remains of the two dogs in June 10, 2015 night while investigating the death of De's father Arabinda De.
Incidentally, his father had also committed suicide by immolating himself inside the bathroom of their Robinson Street house. Police came across the skeletons of Partha's sister Debjani De and pet Labradors, Rickie and Terry, after entering the house to retrieve the body of his father.
On questioning, Partha revealed he had been living with the three corpses for over six months but maintained that he never killed them. "Debjani was very religious. She used to fast a lot despite my objection. She died of fasting," he had then told the media.
Partha revealed though Debjani died on December 24, 2014, he had told his father about her death on March 12, 2015. For 12 weeks, he stayed with the rotting body of his sister believing she was alive. His justification for the act was that he loved his sister so much he didn't want to part with her body.
After the incident, Partha was shifted to Pavlov Mental Institute and later to The Mother House of The Missionaries of Charity. After interrogation, the police did not find any leads into the case. Partha’s mental condition was stated to be unstable.
(With inputs from PTI)