Elderly Man's Body Found Stuffed In Fridge; Grandson Says He Had No Money For Last Rites

In a shocking incident, a 90-year-old man's body was found Thursday stuffed inside a fridge in a house he shared with his grandson. According to the deceased’s grandson, he kept the body in the refrigerator as he had no money for the funeral, police said.

The incident, which took place in the Indian state of Telangana, came to light after neighbors noticed the elderly victim missing for days and later complained about the foul smell coming from the house.

The deceased was identified as Balayya. He was living with his grandson, 26-year-old Nikhil, in the rented house in the city of Warangal, The New Indian Express reported.

Balayya's wife had died due to COVID-19 a few months back. Ever since then, the man and his grandson were living isolated. Police said the two had no contact with their relatives or friends.

Neighbors grew suspicious when they failed to see the elderly man in the last few days. They decided to call police after noticing a stink emanating from the house.

Officers who arrived at the house found Nikhil alone. A search was conducted, following which they found the man's body stuffed inside the refrigerator. The body showed early signs of decomposition.

During interrogation, Nikhil revealed that his grandfather had been ailing for some time and breathed last Monday. According to police, Nikhil said he had no money to conduct the final rites of his grandfather and wanted to conduct the funeral after arranging money.

"Nikhil said that since he did not have enough money to conduct Balayya’s last rites, he stuffed the body inside the fridge," a senior police official told The New Indian Express.

Though reports said Nikhil is mentally unstable, police have taken him into custody after registering a case of a suspicious death.

The body has been sent for autopsy, and the future course of the investigation will be charted only after they get the report, officers said.

A similar case was reported in the Indian city of Kolkata in July wherein a woman and her daughter were found living with the decomposed body of a 78-year-old man. According to police, the body, when discovered, was already more than a month old.

The incident came to light after neighbors alerted police about a stench emanating from the house. On arrival, officers found the two women living with the corpse and going about doing their normal daily activities.