Elderly Woman with Suspected Mental Illness Found Living with Decomposing Husband's Body in Serang
Residents of a housing complex in Unyur Village, Serang City, Banten, were shocked by the news of the death of I (68). The deceased’s body was found already in a decomposing state inside his home. Inside the house was S, the wife of I. The elderly couple lived alone in the residence. S had been accompanying her husband’s body for days. Police stated that the late I had a history of diabetes. “Based on information from the family and residents, the victim was known to have a history of diabetes,” said Serang Police Chief AKP Zaeni Aji Bakhtiar on Thursday (18/6/2026). He said the victim was found lying in the bedroom with his body covered.
The discovery of I’s body came to light after the victim’s brother-in-law and a neighbour visited the victim’s house on Wednesday (17/6) at 08:00 WIB. “Six days earlier, the witness came to the victim’s house and saw the victim already lying down,” said Bhabinkamtibmas Unit Head of Serang City Police, Iptu Irwan. Residents then reported the incident to the National Police call centre 110 after finding the victim’s body along with his wife, who is suspected of having a mental disorder. Officers immediately went to the location to secure the crime scene. “It was discovered that there was victim I and his wife, who suffers from a mental disorder, with the initials S. This was discovered after opening the door and smelling a foul odour,” he said.
Police then processed the crime scene to gather initial data regarding the incident. Officers coordinated with the Forensic Team of Bhayangkara Hospital of the Banten Regional Police and the Identification Unit of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Serang City Police for the evacuation process to Bhayangkara Hospital of the Banten Regional Police and further forensic examination to determine the cause of death. The public is urged to report to the police through the 110 call centre service if they encounter incidents requiring rapid handling so that they can be immediately followed up by officers in the field.
A local resident named Milda Nurlita said S believed her husband was ill and refusing to eat. Residents therefore did not suspect that I had passed away. Milda admitted to meeting S after shopping at a stall about three days prior. At that time, Milda asked about her husband’s condition, and S replied that he was sleeping. “‘How is your husband?’ ‘He’s there, sleeping,’ she said. We believed her because we weren’t allowed to enter the house,” Milda said on Thursday (18/6/2026). “This stubborn man refuses to eat or take medicine, he just locks himself away. It’s been six days now, he hasn’t eaten or drunk anything,” Milda added, quoting S.
A few days later, the wife asked residents for help because she thought her husband was ill. When they arrived, I was already dead. “She asked residents for help because her husband was sick. When we looked, his condition already had maggots and his body had turned blue,” Milda said. The elderly man is suspected to have been dead for a week. Milda and other residents had smelled a foul odour but did not suspect it came from the victim’s house. “We thought it wasn’t from the victim’s house; residents thought it was a dead rat,” she said.
Milda said the elderly couple moved from Bekasi to the housing complex in 2021. Based on daily observations, residents suspected S was experiencing a mental disorder. “She already had a mental disorder, sometimes she raged, sometimes she talked to herself,” she revealed. Milda said the couple lived alone in the housing complex. She mentioned that the couple’s second child had died in 2023, while their first child lives in Depok, West Java. “The second child died, the first is in Depok. Yesterday, after the autopsy was completed, the child arrived just before the funeral prayer,” she said.