KEY POINTS

  • The 38-year-old man allegedly killed his mother in January 2019 because she wanted to go on a short trip
  • He allegedly hid the body by burying it underneath his bedroom
  • Police learned of the alleged crime after the suspect's wife informed her brother-in-law

A 38-year-old man in the Indian state of West Bengal was arrested earlier this week for allegedly killing his mother and keeping her body buried in his bedroom for more than two years.

The man, identified as Sahidul Sheikh, was arrested Tuesday after he was accused by his estranged wife of killing his 58-year-old mother, Sukran Bibi, in their home in Burdwan on Jan 10, 2019, newspaper The Times of India reported.

Sheikh, who was described as short-tempered, allegedly hit his mother on the head with a blunt object and then strangled her because she wanted to go on a short trip.

"As there was no one there at the time of the murder, [Sheikh] dug up the floor of his bedroom and buried [Bibi] there. Every day since then, he [would] burn incense sticks over the place where his mother was buried," a senior police officer from the Burdwan police station was quoted as saying in the report.

The victim's elder son, Kismat Ali, lodged a complaint at the station after she went missing, but authorities were initially clueless about where the woman went.

Authorities learned of the alleged incident after Sheikh's unnamed wife left his house out of fear and moved into her father's home in Bhatar. Ali went to meet Sheikh's wife Tuesday to resolve the dispute between her and Sheikh, and she ended up disclosing what allegedly happened to the brothers' mother.

Police arrested Sheikh that night after Ali went to the police station and reported the alleged crime.

Sheikh's wife told authorities that her husband allegedly physically tortured her every day and threatened to kill and bury her the same way he had murdered and buried his mother.

Authorities dug up the floor of Sheikh's bedroom Wednesday after obtaining a court order and found bones buried there.

The recovered body parts were sent to a laboratory for forensic tests and an autopsy, police said.

Legal action against Sheikh will be initiated once murder is established, according to authorities.

A similar incident happened in Panama City, Florida, in July when a 56-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly murdering her husband and then burying the body beneath layers of sheets to mask its odor.

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Representation. Sahidul Sheikh, 38, allegedly burned incensed in his room every day ever since he murdered his 58-year-old mother. Pixabay