Minor girl staying with grandmother's body rescued in S Dinajpur

BALURGHAT: A mentally challenged minor girl reportedly stayed with the body of her grandmother in her house alone for two days. The incident took place in South Dinajpur's Bhor village, which is under Kumarganj block.

After receiving the news from the locals, police from Kumarganj police station reached the spot on Thursday evening and sent the corpse of Sandhya Rani Jha (72) to Balurghat hospital.

Initially, food was served to the minor girl by the local administration. A civic volunteer was posted to the house. The girl will be sent to a state-run home for girls in Balurghat by the administration shortly.

According to an official source, the elderly woman's husband had died a couple of years ago.

Her daughter and son-in-law had died too. There was no trace of her only son. She was staying with her granddaughter in her home alone. Recently she fell ill due to aging related diseases. Initial investigation revealed that the woman had died on Tuesday evening.

On Thursday, the locals visited her house as they had not seen either her or her granddaughter over the past few days.

After reaching the house, they saw the woman lying dead with the girl sitting beside her corpse.

Her body was decomposed spreading foul smell. The girl was starving since Tuesday evening. The locals gave her food and informed the police. Later the police recovered the corpse and sent the same for autopsy.

Superintendent of Police of South Dinajpur Rahul De said: "After receiving the news, the elderly woman's body was sent for autopsy to Balurghat hospital by the police. The reason of her death and when she had died will be ascertained after receiving the autopsy report. We will shift the minor girl to a home soon."