Woman with Suspected Mental Illness Stays with Deceased Husband for a Week, Believing He Was Ill
The decomposing body of a 68-year-old man, identified by the initials I, was found inside a bedroom at the TBL housing complex in Serang City, Banten. He had been living with his wife, S, who is suspected of suffering from a mental disorder.
Local resident Milda Nurlita said that before the discovery, the wife had asked neighbours for help, believing her husband was ill. However, when residents arrived, the man was already dead. "She asked for help because her husband was sick. When we looked, his condition was already infested with maggots and his body had turned blue," Milda said on Thursday (18/6/2026).
The elderly man is believed to have been dead for about a week. Milda recounted that the wife consistently said her husband was sick because he refused to eat. Based on these statements, residents did not become suspicious. "He was stubborn, refusing to eat or take medicine, just keeping his mouth shut. He hadn’t eaten or drunk anything for six days," Milda said, quoting S.
Three days earlier, Milda had met the wife after shopping at a food stall. When she asked about the husband’s condition, S replied that he was sleeping. "We believed her because we weren’t allowed to enter the house," Milda added.
Residents had noticed a foul smell but did not suspect it came from the couple’s home. "We thought it was a dead rat," Milda said.
Milda explained that the couple moved from Bekasi to the housing complex in 2021. She noted that the wife had been showing signs of mental disturbance since they arrived. "She already had a mental disorder, sometimes raging, sometimes talking to herself," she revealed.
The couple lived alone in the house. Their second child died in 2023, while their first child resides in Depok. "The second child passed away, the first is in Depok. The child only arrived yesterday after the autopsy was completed, just in time for the funeral prayers," Milda stated.
Police suspect the man’s body had been inside the house for about six days, accompanied by his mentally disturbed wife. The incident came to light after residents, suspicious of a pungent odour emanating from the house, checked the property and discovered the body of I alongside his wife S on Wednesday morning (17/6/2026). "It was discovered after opening the door and smelling an unpleasant odour," said Iptu Irwan, Unit Head of Bhabinkamtibmas for the Serang Kota Police Sector.