In a chilling reminder of Kolkata’s infamous Robinson Street case, Kasba in the southern part of the state capital was rocked on Monday night after police recovered the decomposed body of a man from his locked home — with his daughter sitting beside the corpse for days and his unconscious wife discovered stuffed inside a sack under the bed.
According to police, Sumit Sen, a resident of Bosepukur in Kasba and an employee at a private firm, lived with his wife Archana Sen and their 27-year-old daughter, Sampriti. Neighbours said the family had been battling severe mental health issues for some time and rarely stepped outside.
Over the last several days, locals noticed complete silence from the house. At first, they assumed someone in the family was unwell. But when the house remained shut and none of the three were seen, suspicion grew. A concerned relative was alerted.
When the relative phoned to check in, Sampriti repeatedly insisted that both her parents were “fine,” but avoided letting anyone speak to them. Growing increasingly uneasy, the relative visited the house with neighbours on Monday. They found the door bolted from the inside and no response despite repeated calls.
Kasba police were informed, and after breaking open the door, officers were hit immediately by an overpowering stench. Inside, they discovered the severely decomposed body of Sumit lying in the middle of the room, while his daughter sat silently beside him. A further search revealed Archana, unconscious and wrapped in a sack, hidden under the bed.
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She was rushed to the hospital, while Sampriti was detained and placed under medical observation for her mental condition. Police sources say she has been unable — or unwilling — to answer questions about the sequence of events.
The cause of Sumit’s death remains uncertain. Officers suspect illness, but clarity will come only after the post-mortem examination. Kasba Police have launched a probe into the circumstances surrounding the death and the disturbing state in which the family was found.
Monday’s discovery has drawn comparisons to the 2015 Robinson Street horror, in which police found the skeleton of a young woman who had been kept inside the house for months, allegedly tended to daily by her brother Partha De. The sensational case had stunned the city, with Partha later dying by suicide in 2017.
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