Family Keeps Girl's Body At Home For 4 Days, Hopes For Resurrection

An Indian family was found living with the decomposing body of their 17-year-old daughter for four days, waiting for divine powers to resurrect her.

Police said the incident came to light when neighbors noticed the foul stench emanating from the house where the decomposing body was stored. Authorities arrived at Deeha village in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday and sent the body for post-mortem, reported Mirror Now. The autopsy report revealed that the girl died four days ago from septicemia, commonly known as sepsis, a medical term for bacterial poisoning of the blood.

Septicemia is the body's most severe reaction to infection. Depending on the type of organism involved, sepsis that develops into septic shock has a fatality rate of up to 50%. Sepsis is a medical emergency that requires immediate medical attention. If left untreated, it can cause tissue damage, organ failure and death.

Authorities were informed by the neighbors that the family was blinded by superstitions. The deceased’s father, Abhayraj Yadav was reportedly the only non-believing member of the family. He told the authorities that other members of the family locked him in a room when he questioned them about their activities.

Meanwhile, senior district officials requested a thorough investigation of the incident on Thursday. "A thorough probe will be conducted and family members will be questioned. The girl's family members are currently undergoing treatment at SRN Hospital,” Superintendent of Police, Saurabh Dixit, told Times of India, “The family kept the body at the house believing that the goddess would bless the girl and she would come back to life.”

The family had limited themselves to consuming one meal a day and indulged in drinking of holy water, Ganga Jal. The neighbors said the family had stopped any interaction with them.

“When the youngest daughter died of illness last week, the family members covered her body with a saffron cloth and kept a bell and ball-like structures made of soil around it,” police said. The authorities had to call in additional forces to tackle the situation as the family was against an autopsy and were not allowing the police to send the body for post-mortem.