Ganapati Nandy’s son Raja,who did not realise his father was dead for three days. Picture by Amit Datta

Ganapati Nandy’s body lay in the kitchen for three days, while his wife and son, living in the same apartment, remained oblivious. Both mother and son are mentally deranged.

The death of Nandy, 64, came to light after residents of Doctor’s Lane, in Taltala, detected a stench emanating from his second-floor flat. They entered the apartment, only to find the decomposed body lying on the kitchen floor, while wife Bharati, 52, and son Raja, 32, were asleep in the adjoining room.

Manik Das, a neighbour, said: “The stench became unbearable around 11.30am on Tuesday. Initially, we thought some dead dog’s body maybe lying around, but we found nothing of the sort.”

“It appears that Nandy had suffered a cardiac arrest. His wife and son are mentally deranged and did not even react when officers removed the body from the apartment,” said Gyanwant Singh, the deputy commissioner of police (headquarters). He ruled out any possibility of foul play.

The investigating officers said nothing conclusive can be said about the death since his wife and son are the only witnesses to it. “They are not in a position to provide us with any leads. We are waiting for the post-mortem report,” added Singh.

According to neighbours, Nandy had a disturbed family life. “Bharati has been suffering from mental ailment for the past decade, while Raja developed the same problems a couple of years back,” said a neighbour.

Though the dead body had been lying in the kitchen for three days, the police said that Bharati and Raja found nothing amiss. “We found unwashed plates and dishes with rice and daal on them. It is surprising that they cooked in the same kitchen where Nandy was lying dead for three days,” said an officer.