KOLKATA — "My mother thinks I am impotent. She wanted to see me develop a relationship. This is why she used to send a maid servant to my room…"
These lines, allegedly from the diary of a 44-year-old man who was living in an apartment in Kolkata with the skeletons of his sister and pet dogs for the past six months, have the police investigating the possibilities of incest and a history of mental illness in the family.
Police have ruled out homicide in the death of 77-year-old Arabindo De who died in a fire inside a bathroom which had the door bolted shut from inside, according to reports.
The house on Robinson Lane is now being called the ‘House of Horror’ in the local media after secret after dark secret kept tumbling out in preliminary investigations.
Take, for example, how the family communicated with each other.
The police found numerous handwritten notes that were clearly meant as communication between the father, son and the daughter inside the house, according to the Times of India. The family spoke to each other -- consoled each other and raised questions about their future -- through these letters.
Some letters revealed that the writer was quite depressed.
In one note, son Partha wrote "All men and women are dancing. Either to (the) tune or out of tune..." and then went on to describe a sexually explicit scene. He alleged in his notes that his mother, who died of breast cancer in 2007, was jealous of his sister.
Forensic tests on the skeleton, allegedly that of Arabindo's daughter Debjani, are being conducted, police said.
"The forensic department is yet to send its final report, but going by the initial probe it is a case of suicide by burning and not homicide," Special Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Pallab Kanti Ghosh was quoted by PTI as saying.
'Diaries' kept by Partha consisted of about 10 exercise books. Partha called these notebooks, frequently used by students for school work, his 'autobiobiography' and reportedly filled them with lurid descriptions of sexual acts, the TOI report said.
There is a strong indication that there was an incestuous relationship between Partha and his sister Debjani. A team of psychiatrists are now ascertaining Partho’s mental condition.
TOI quoted psychiatrist Sabyasachi Mitra, who examined Partha, as saying that he may also have had necrophilia -- a pathological condition where sexual arousal is triggered by a dead body.
Police have recovered eight laptops, desktop computers, paper notes and letters written by family members and diaries from the apartment, PTI said.
A report in the Asian Age also suggested that Partha tried to connect to the spirit of his dead sister through planchette. He had even set up a 'control room'.
“Partha told us that Debjani had said there was some evil spirit on their house and she started fasting to ward off the evil and please the gods. She fasted for over a month and died in the process on December 29, 2014,” the report quoted a senior police official as saying.
The story gets darker.
Partha kept the bodies wrapped in sheets and “fed his sister regularly” even after her death.
An IT executive, Partha allegedly installed a sound system inside the house on which he constantly played Debjani’s recorded voice, Asian Age said.
Doctors suggested that no chemicals were used to preserve the skeletons inside the apartment. It was also baffling why none in the locality smelt the stench of the dead bodies although the doctors have ruled out use of chemicals to preserve the skeleton.
Regarding the skeletons of the pet dogs, police said that opinions of doctors at the SSKM was sought before sending them to veterinary surgeons to ascertain the cause of their deaths.
Police said that forensic experts would conduct radiology and DNA tests to ascertain the identity of the person whose skeletal remains have been discovered in the house.
Police have also spoken to Arabindo's brother Arun, who lived next door, besides the security guard of the building.
"The De family had no connection with the outside world. They had no maid and had severed connections with their relatives as well. But we are probing all possible angles in this case," Ghosh said.
Meanwhile, a medical team comprising three psychologists and two doctors has been formed to check on Partho's mental health.
"We have kept Partho in an isolated room. He is hardly speaking to anyone. In fact, he said he was spiritually connected to his father, sister and the two dogs. He even asked us to shift him to Mother House (of Missionaries of Charity)," Ganesh Prasad, superintendent of Pavlov Mental Hospital where Partho was admitted yesterday, said. (With PTI inputs)
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These lines, allegedly from the diary of a 44-year-old man who was living in an apartment in Kolkata with the skeletons of his sister and pet dogs for the past six months, have the police investigating the possibilities of incest and a history of mental illness in the family.
Police have ruled out homicide in the death of 77-year-old Arabindo De who died in a fire inside a bathroom which had the door bolted shut from inside, according to reports.
The house on Robinson Lane is now being called the ‘House of Horror’ in the local media after secret after dark secret kept tumbling out in preliminary investigations.
Take, for example, how the family communicated with each other.
The police found numerous handwritten notes that were clearly meant as communication between the father, son and the daughter inside the house, according to the Times of India. The family spoke to each other -- consoled each other and raised questions about their future -- through these letters.
Some letters revealed that the writer was quite depressed.
In one note, son Partha wrote "All men and women are dancing. Either to (the) tune or out of tune..." and then went on to describe a sexually explicit scene. He alleged in his notes that his mother, who died of breast cancer in 2007, was jealous of his sister.
Forensic tests on the skeleton, allegedly that of Arabindo's daughter Debjani, are being conducted, police said.
"The forensic department is yet to send its final report, but going by the initial probe it is a case of suicide by burning and not homicide," Special Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Pallab Kanti Ghosh was quoted by PTI as saying.
'Diaries' kept by Partha consisted of about 10 exercise books. Partha called these notebooks, frequently used by students for school work, his 'autobiobiography' and reportedly filled them with lurid descriptions of sexual acts, the TOI report said.
There is a strong indication that there was an incestuous relationship between Partha and his sister Debjani. A team of psychiatrists are now ascertaining Partho’s mental condition.
TOI quoted psychiatrist Sabyasachi Mitra, who examined Partha, as saying that he may also have had necrophilia -- a pathological condition where sexual arousal is triggered by a dead body.
Police have recovered eight laptops, desktop computers, paper notes and letters written by family members and diaries from the apartment, PTI said.
A report in the Asian Age also suggested that Partha tried to connect to the spirit of his dead sister through planchette. He had even set up a 'control room'.
“Partha told us that Debjani had said there was some evil spirit on their house and she started fasting to ward off the evil and please the gods. She fasted for over a month and died in the process on December 29, 2014,” the report quoted a senior police official as saying.
The story gets darker.
Partha kept the bodies wrapped in sheets and “fed his sister regularly” even after her death.
An IT executive, Partha allegedly installed a sound system inside the house on which he constantly played Debjani’s recorded voice, Asian Age said.
Doctors suggested that no chemicals were used to preserve the skeletons inside the apartment. It was also baffling why none in the locality smelt the stench of the dead bodies although the doctors have ruled out use of chemicals to preserve the skeleton.
Regarding the skeletons of the pet dogs, police said that opinions of doctors at the SSKM was sought before sending them to veterinary surgeons to ascertain the cause of their deaths.
Police said that forensic experts would conduct radiology and DNA tests to ascertain the identity of the person whose skeletal remains have been discovered in the house.
Police have also spoken to Arabindo's brother Arun, who lived next door, besides the security guard of the building.
"The De family had no connection with the outside world. They had no maid and had severed connections with their relatives as well. But we are probing all possible angles in this case," Ghosh said.
Meanwhile, a medical team comprising three psychologists and two doctors has been formed to check on Partho's mental health.
"We have kept Partho in an isolated room. He is hardly speaking to anyone. In fact, he said he was spiritually connected to his father, sister and the two dogs. He even asked us to shift him to Mother House (of Missionaries of Charity)," Ganesh Prasad, superintendent of Pavlov Mental Hospital where Partho was admitted yesterday, said. (With PTI inputs)
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