Family keeps dead body hoping for divine intervention

In the belief that God Almighty will bring her dead daughter back to life, a mother and her son waited next to the dead body for three days in Jangareddygudem town in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.

Police got wind of the incident on Monday, after the neighbours in the apartment complex could not bear the stench emanating from the putrefying body.

As the orthodox Brahmin family is in a disturbed state, the police not only got the post-mortem conducted on the 43-year-old deceased woman but also got the last rites performed. Police said that T Aruna Jyothi, died in her flat in Meghana Towers apartment and her body was lying on a cot when the police entered the house.

Her mother Manjula Devi, aged 70 plus, and brother Ravichandra, 39, remained inside the flat, attending to their daily chores as if nothing had happened. When the police entered the flat, Ravichandra was having lunch sitting beside the body, refusing to believe that his sister had passed away.

Jangareddygudem police sub-inspector Vishnu Vardhan said that the duo believed that Aruna had coffee only the other day. While police say Aruna might have died three days ago, they are awaiting the forensic report for affirming the exact day and time of her death.

Neighbours said the family, which had moved in some seven months ago, was embroiled in property disputes with relatives and in court cases. The brother and sister remained unmarried. The brother gave up his job in Chennai to live with his mother and sister. They were aloof and didn't even pay bills despite reminders by the owner, they said.

Police found medical reports of Aruna, who was a diabetic and also suffered from blood pressure. She had suffered an injury in her leg, which had got infected. The mother and son, who believed that God would revive her, refused to accept that Aruna was no more. Police sought the help of the paramedical staff of the ambulance to convince them that she had died and kept a dead body at home could infect them and the neighbourhood.