Doc couple found dead in Kandivli apartment

A senior citizen doctor couple was found dead at their Kandivli flat on Tuesday. The police said Maniklal Shah, 75, is believed to have died a natural death on Monday while Surbala, 70, last Friday.

However, the couple’s adopted son, Neeraj, 23, who is mentally unstable, did not realise his parents were dead despite seeing their bodies for days.

Surbala’s body lay on her bed with her eyes open while Maniklal’s body was on the adjacent bed. Neeraj thought his parents were resting and did not bother them.

Only when he realised that his parents were not speaking and a foul smell started emanating from the place on Tuesday did he inform his employer and younger brother. 

Neeraj, who works as a delivery boy at Siddhi fruit shop opposite their building, told the police that Surbala did not speak a word after she drank water last Friday. Maniklal stopped eating from Monday morning, he said. “He did not realise his parents were dead. He kept massaging his mother till Sunday,” a police officer told DNA.

Neeraj was adopted by the couple in 1993 when he was three years old.

On Tuesday, Neeraj went to his employer and told him that his parents had stopped eating and speaking. He mentioned the foul smell too.

“The employer went to Neeraj’s house and called out to his parents from the entrance. He realised something was wrong when there was no response,” the officer said. “He then informed Neeraj’s younger brother who came home to find his parents dead,” said H Pimple, senior inspector at the Kandivli police station.

The police were informed about the incident and the bodies sent for post-mortem. “The post-mortem report revealed that Maniklal, a homeopathy doctor, died of pneumonia while Surbala, a gynaecologist, had a cardiac arrest,” said Mahesh Patil, DCP, zone XI. 

The couple had been staying in Park View building, Shankar lane, Kandivli (West), for 40 years. The police said the couple stopped practicing six years ago. Surbala was bed-ridden for the past six months while Maniklal also fell ill a month ago.  “Surbala’s body was partially decomposed, so it appears that she died two to three days ago while it appears that Maniklal died on Monday,” the officer said.

“A person conducting a population survey went to their house on Monday morning. Maniklal told the person that three people live in the house. It means he was was alive on Monday,” said a woman who lives in the same building.