According to police sources, Madhuben Shah was staying alone in a housing complex on S V Road, Vile Parle (W) since her husband had died some time ago and her children were all staying separately. However, her children used to keep in touch with her and used to visit her once every two weeks and inquire about her health, police said.

The old woman was also fond of going to pilgrimage sites like Deolali and Viramgam in Gujarat and often used to go on her own for a couple of weeks. Her relatives were used to her going alone and did not think it unusual if she was not at home for some days, police said.

In the last week of October, her son Yogesh Shah met her last and did not contact her for almost two weeks, police said. When he finally called her up, there was no response and the phonetoo kept ringing in his mother's house. Thinking she had gone on a pilgrimage trip, the son again did not bother for a few more days, police added. When he again called up in the last week of November, there was still no response. This time Yogesh got worried and inquired with some neighbours at his mother's house. Since no one had seen her for several days and had no knowledge of her whereabouts, the son even checked at various pilgrimage centres, according to police sources. Not managing to track her down anywhere, he finally informed Juhu police station yesterday morning.

The door to the house was found to be locked from inside, and the mystery was finally solved when police opened the door in the presence of two panchas. The body of the old woman was found in the bedroom in a highly decomposed state and had almost reduced to a skeleton. As a result, even the cause of death could not be ascertained and the body organs have been preserved for chemical analysis, police said.

Yogesh told ExpressNewsline that she was also in the habit of going to her second house at Nallasopara, where she used to stay for a couple of weeks. But when they did not find her even there, they decided to inform police and opened the door, he said.

He added that neighbours did not notice any foul smell of decomposition probably because the windows of the bedroom opened to a vacant area. Also, there is no chance of any foul play since they did not have any enmity and are peace-loving persons, he said.