Unable to cope with his wife’s death, octogenarian holds on to body for a week

The elderly couple AN Ponnumani and PP Komala (70) had been staying in the house on 97th Street at Muthamizh Nagar since 1991 and did not have children. Ponnumani is said to be a retired employee of Chennai Corporation and living on the pension money.

While neighbours did not see Ponnumani for over a week, they sensed a foul odour emanating from the house on Sunday evening and alerted the police control room. A team led by inspector C Velu rushed to the spot but could manage to enter the house only after a few hours.

They found the bloated body of Komala with Ponnumani lying next to her, laying his hands on his wife. While police initially thought both of them have died, they realised Ponnumani was still alive while lifting him and rushed him to Government Stanley Hospital. Komala’s body was retrieved and sent for post-mortem.

When contacted, inspector Velu said that Ponnumani is stable and is under medical supervision. “When we lifted Ponnumani, he was wailing that he should not be separated from his wife. The house was in shambles and the woman might have died a week ago,” said the inspector.

A case has been registered and further investigation is on.