In a tragic incident that surfaced on Thursday, two mentally ill siblings of a retired scientist were found to be living with his decaying corpse in West Delhi's Inderpuri.
Sonu Kumar, a field officer of the Pusa Institute, informed the police about a foul smell coming from one of the quarters on the campus which he led him to the residence of retired scientist Yashvir Sood. When he tried to enter the house, Sood's sister barred his entry.
He then informed the police who forcibly entered Sood's house to find the scientist's body lying on a broken folding cot, says a report by the Hindustan Times.
Sood might have died of malnutrition around three-four days ago but his two younger siblings, Harish and Kamla, who are in their 60s, did not inform anyone about the incident, because they both are mentally ill, said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Vijay Kumar. He also said that the siblings were anti-social and preferred living in each other’s company.
Sood had been a head scientist at the Pusa Institute’s Nuclear Science Department. He retired on 31 March 2015 at the age of 62 and took up residence with his two younger siblings at an abandoned government flat. The family belonged to Himachal Pradesh.
The neighbours said that the three of them had been living together for many years now. The police said Sood was an alcoholic and was depressed even before his retirement, also he had not withdrawn any pension or gratuity even after several months of retirement.
The police has admitted Sood's siblings into the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS). The father of the scientist was also a part of the same institute.
(With inputs from PTI and Hindustan Times)
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