A woman allegedly kept the body of her 78-year-old father in a freezer at a day-care centre in Malad (East) for nearly four years, police said, adding that the matter came to light after the premises were sought to be vacated for redevelopment.

According to the police, the man’s daughter, who is in her 40s, had kept her father’s body at the day-care centre in the Malad area since June 2022 as she was “deeply attached” to her father and “wanted to preserve his body” for life. The day-care centre had stopped functioning about a month ago.

A police officer said that while preserving a body for such a long period was unusual, there was nothing suspicious about the death.

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The man’s daughter had taken a death certificate from the doctor, and it was a natural death, said the officer.

The landlord, who owns the day-care centre and adjoining premises, sought to vacate the property as the chawl, which has over 2000 sq ft area, was going to be redeveloped.

A police team visited the centre and found the man’s body preserved in a freezer. The day-care centre operators had also not informed the police about the body being kept there, the officer said.

During the inquiry, police learnt that the deceased man’s daughter lives in Andheri (West). The elderly man was suffering from cancer and died after suffering a heart attack in June 2022.

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The daughter also told police that they had contacted an organisation in the US that provides body-preservation services. They planned to shift the body to the US eventually and had been saving money for the process while also seeking legal advice and communicating with the organisation, police said.

The landlord said that he had rented the premises to a person identified as Abdul Rehman in early 2022. Rehman subsequently handed over the premises to another management, which was operating a clinic there, he said. The landlord claimed that he was unaware that the body had been kept inside the premises.

Police recorded the statements of the landlord, the day-care centre operators and the family members of the deceased.

“We have discussed with the family and now they will take the decision whether they want to cremate the body or shift into the BMC by procuring certificate and paying legal charges,” the officer added.