Two Varanasi sisters found living with mother’s corpse for 1 year

Two women were found living with the corpse of their mother inside a house in Madarwan of Lanka police station area of Varanasi on Wednesday evening.

According to a police officer, the woman, identified as Usha Tripathi, 52, passed away on December 8, 2022, due to illness. However, both of her daughters, Pallavi and Vaishnavi, did not inform anyone of her death, nor did they perform the last rites. They concealed the body under a quilt.

The situation came to light when the deceased’s younger sister and her husband Dharmendra Chaturvedi, residents of Gauri Bahuvar in the Jamalpur police station area of Mirzapur, visited Usha’s house on Wednesday afternoon.

Chaturvedi reported that he knocked on the door, but the two girls refused to open it. After several attempts, he informed the police through the emergency helpline (dial 112). A police team arrived and asked the girls to open the door, but they continued to resist.

Inspector Shivakant Mishra, in-charge of Lanka police station, reached the scene with additional forces. They broke open the door, documented the scene with videography, and discovered the skeletal remains of Usha Tripathi.

Mishra stated that during the interrogation of both daughters, they revealed that their mother had died due to illness on December 8, 2022. Due to financial constraints, they couldn’t afford the cremation.

Pallavi, the elder daughter, is 27 years old and holds a master’s degree (M.Com), while Vaishnavi, the younger daughter, is 18 years old and passed high school two years ago.

According to a senior police officer, the women after the death of their mother, managed with the ration that was kept in the house for the next few weeks. Relatives sent them money online, which they used to purchase grains from shops. However, they avoided meeting or allowing anyone into their home.

The senior police officer mentioned that during the last few months, the elder sister, Pallavi, sought help from a neighbour multiple times to secure a loan from the bank as she wanted to start a business. Both sisters predominantly stayed inside the house.

It was also revealed that after the death of their mother, when the body started decomposing, they covered it with a quilt and even had meals on the rooftop due to the unpleasant odor emanating from the body. The officer added that they lacked the funds to perform the last rites.

Deputy commissioner of police, Kashi Zone, RS Gautam, mentioned that currently, both women are under the care of their uncle, Dharmendra Chaturvedi, who is arranging for their treatment from a psychiatrist.

The post-mortem examination of Usha’s body is being conducted based on the complaint filed by Dharmendra.

The police also revealed that Usha Tripathi lived in the house, which was built by her father Ramkrishna Pandey, with her two daughters for several years after a dispute with her husband Deveshwar Tripathi, 10 years after their marriage. Usha used to run a cosmetic shop, which was their sole source of income. However, the shop closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.