Mumbai family preserves 80-year-old man's body for 4 years after his natural death
The family of an 80-year-old Mumbai man who died four years ago has preserved his body because of what they described as "deep emotional attachment", spending more than Rs 50 lakh in the process, police said on Wednesday.
Police ruled out foul play and said the man died in 2022 after suffering from cancer, kidney failure and other age-related health problems.
Following his death, the family initially kept his body in a freezer at their home in Malad, an official from Kurar police station said.
According to police, the man's wife and two children, including a daughter who is a lawyer, decided not to perform his last rites because of their emotional attachment to him.
When their residential building was taken up for redevelopment, the family moved the preserved body to a local dispensary. The dispensary shut down around a month ago, police said.
The family has spent over Rs 50 lakh on preserving the body and was considering sending it to a facility in the United States that provides long-term cryopreservation services, a police official said.
Cryopreservation refers broadly to the preservation of cells, tissues or organs at extremely low temperatures.
The unusual arrangement came to light after police received a tip-off. Relatives and neighbours were aware of the family's decision to preserve the body.
Police said there was nothing suspicious about the death and confirmed that the man had died of natural causes.
No case has been registered in connection with the matter. The family is now deciding whether to send the body abroad for preservation or perform the last rites, the official said. (with inputs from PTI)
