Kolkata, Dec 2 (IANS): In a shocking incident, the police in West Bengal's Hooghly district on Saturday rescued a 35-year-old man who had been sitting next to his mother's body after locking the door of his house from inside for the last three days.

The incident was reported from Hind Motor.

The matter came to light after the local people on Saturday got alarmed by a foul smell coming out of a flat where the mother-son duo stayed. After being informed, the police broke open the door of the flat and found the youth sitting silently next to his mother's body.

The deceased has been identified as Kalyani Hazra (65), a retired bank employee, who died around three days back. She used to stay with his son Subhranil Hazra (35), who is believed to be suffering from mental disorder.

Their neighbours and domestic help told the police that the door of the flat was locked for the past three days. Even when the domestic help came every morning, Subhranil did not allow her entry claiming that his mother was sleeping under sedation.

“The foul smell started emitting from the house from Friday evening, but since it was mild, none of us suspected anything. But on Saturday morning, the foul smell was beyond tolerance. And after the domestic help told us about Subhranil's peculiar behaviour, we decided to inform the police,” a neighbour said.

The neighbours also told the police that both the mother and son were pretty unsocial and rarely interacted with the local people. Even the neighbours have hardly noticed any visitor coming to their residence.