A 68-year-old woman, who lived with her daughter, was found sitting with the decomposed body of the daughter at their Jadavpur home on Monday afternoon.
Police said a man who used to deliver food every day to the mother and daughter found the food had not been collected from outside the second-floor flat in Bijoygarh over the past few days and a stench was coming out of the house.
The food delivery boy alerted neighbours, who called Jadavpur police station. A team of officers reached the spot and broke open the door.
“The mother was seen sitting next to the decomposed body of her 38-year-old daughter. The daughter had died at least three days ago. The body had decomposed,” said joint commissioner (crime), Kolkata police, Shankha Shubhra Chakrabarty.
The elderly woman, police said, was aware of her daughter’s death but did not inform anyone about it.
“The family did not have any source of income and their relatives were supporting them,” an officer said.
The body was sent to SSKM Hospital for post-mortem.