Kolkata House Of Horrors: The Macabre Saga Of A Man Who Lived With Skeletons For Months

The city of joy, Kolkata, came to a standstill in 2015 when skeletons were recovered from a house in upmarket Robinson Street. Since then, the De Residence was never forgotten.

Partha De speaking to media after his questing by the doctors at Pavlov Hospital on June 16, 2015 in Kolkata.

Known for being an easy-going city with a keen interest in literature, food, and politics, Kolkata hit the headlines in 2015 when macabre details tumbled out of the De residence at the posh Robinson Street where a middle-aged man was found living with the charred body of his father, skeletons of his sister and their pet dogs. The house was later termed 'Kankal Bari' [house of skeletons] or the Kolkata house of horrors. Nobody in the tony neighborhood got wind of what was happening in the house for six months until 77-year-old Arabindo De died by suicide. The police found his burnt body in the bathroom and a suicide note was also recovered. It was the death of senior De that opened the pandora's box of horrors inside. Now, the limelight was on the only living member of the family -- Partha De.

An engineer by profession, Partha was living with his sister Debjani De and father Arabindo De after his mother passed away due to cancer in 2005 and since then the dysfunctionality within the family began. The case came to the public eye with the death of Arabindo De. During the investigation of his death, Partha's unusual behaviour caught the attention of the police and he was brought to the police station during the night to prevent him from taking an extreme step like suicide. This is when Partha opened up to a police officer and confessed that he was living with the skeleton of his sister Debjani De. He told the police that even though the act sounded criminal, he was doing this out of love and his attachment to his sister. The police soon rushed to the house.

SKELETONS, MYSTERIOUS VOICES

Once the police entered the house, a mysterious voice echoed across -- which later turned out to be the gospel of Joyce Meyer, a well-known American evangelist. When the police went near De's bedroom, a strong smell led them toward the bed. This is where the story begins to unfold and from now on, with every detail, it only becomes darker. Before we move ahead, let's pause for a bit to think if there is a definition of how to love. Is there a way to love someone in the wrong way? These aren't fillers, because on one hand Partha could be a twisted man who should be kept away from civilised society but on the other hand Partha could be someone who was drowning in his loneliness and couldn't come to terms with the death of his sister. The case sent the media into a frenzy because of its shock value.

Cut to the police at Partha's house. As they went near the bed drawn by the stench, the skeleton of Debjani De was found under a blanket with a bunch of teddy bears. It was reported that Partha's father also ended his life as he was against the decision to keep her corpse at home without a proper funeral, but his suicide note never mentioned this and held nobody responsible for his death.

Partha told the police that his sister died in November after she slipped into depression following the death of the two labrador dogs. She then started fasting to ward off any negative energy so that normalcy returned home. Partha used to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the company of his late sister's corpse and even slept in the same bed with her after she died in November 2014. Partha also regularly fed (carcasses or remains of) the dogs and changed bedsheets for the sister's skeleton.

Later, Partha De was arrested for an act that could spread an infectious disease that could be dangerous to life, and for not informing public servants about his sister's death. After he was presented in court, he was sent to the Pavlov Mental Home at Gobra in east Kolkata.

DIARIES OF COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIPS

A few of Partha's diaries were also recovered during the course of the investigation. The write-ups hinted at sexual relations within the family. Two of his entries were striking in particular. These were reported by several media outlets, but these portions were from a ToI report.

'My sister was growing old, and she was asserting her independence. My mother was jealous of her. We went to Digha (on vacation). My mother made her strip in the bathroom…'

‘My mother thinks I am impotent. She wanted to see me develop a relationship. This is why she used to send a maidservant to my room…’

Experts also suggested that Partha may have had schizophrenia and that led him to be deluded, which also meant that not all of his jottings could be mistaken for the whole truth.

Psychiatrist Sabyasachi Mitra who examined Partha at Pavlov Mental Hospital had told ToI that Partha could have had necrophilia — a condition in which a person is sexually attracted to corpses. “Rather than what he has mentioned in his diaries, Partha De might have been in a physical relationship with the dead bodies he has been living with. It is not yet established, but such behavior is not unusual on the part of psychosis patients,” he told TOI.

Experts were also roped in when the police suspected that Partha, his father, and his sisters conversed in hand-written notes. But most his entries were contradictory or unfinished in thoughts.

I AM NO KILLER, DE PENS HIS PAIN

Before his lonely death, De had penned his memoir in which he wrote, 'I am no killer' and opened up about his life including his suffering from a mental disorder and the trauma caused by his sister's death. He also reportedly said once he recovered from his mental disorder, he could never think of living with a corpse. Before his death, De wrote of himself as a happy man and gave an insight into his life from the time 'he worked at the computer section of a newspaper house to his prayers at St. Ignatius Church in Ekbalpore.' De was ready to leave his past behind.

THE JOURNEY ENDS IN SORROWFUL SOLITUDE

Partha vanished from the public eye after spending a few weeks at the mental hospital. People heard of him again when he was found dead at his Watgunge home in Kolkata. He also killed himself the same way as his father and the body was found in the bathroom. He died a lonely death with no relative to claim his body. The police decided to wait for seven days before cremating his body.

Even two days after he ended his lonely journey with a bottle of petrol and a matchbox, nobody showed up even during his final journey. Even with all the members gone, the story will remain fresh in the memories of the city for years to come.