A year after he last spoke to his mother on the phone, 43-year-old Rituraj Sahani returned home from America to find her skeleton in their posh Oshiwara flat on Sunday.
The police said their investigation revealed that the skeleton is of Asha Sahani, 63, who had been living alone in her flat on the 10th floor of Bellscot Tower in Andheri (West).
Rituraj works at an IT company in the US, where he lives with his wife. It is unclear if he has any children.
“Rituraj visits India to meet his mother either once a year or every six months. He last spoke to her in April last year. He claims that he has no relatives in the city,” said a police officer.
Rituraj reached Mumbai around 3.30 pm. When he rang the doorbell of the flat, she did not respond.
The door was locked from the inside and so he asked a key maker to help him open the door, added the official. On entering, he saw that his mother’s body had completely decomposed and only her skeleton had remained.
Rituraj contacted the Oshiwara police station. A team visited the spot and sent the body to Siddharth Hospital for a post-mortem. The police registered a case of accidental death. “We will only be able to ascertain the cause of death after we get the post mortem report,” said inspector Arjun Rajane of the Oshiwara police station.
“The door was locked from the inside, so it appears that the woman died of natural causes,” police officials added.
The police are asking neighbours and security guards if they noticed a smell emanating from the flat.
