In a grisly discovery that shocked residents of a Pilibhit village, police said on Tuesday that a 50-year-old watchman was found dead inside a deserted under-construction house with his face stripped of flesh and reduced to bare bone.
The body of Man Singh (50), a resident of Sambhua village in the Ghungchai police station area, was found lying beneath a staircase in the vacant house he had been guarding, about half a kilometre from his home. Villagers who entered the premises after noticing no movement for several hours, were horrified by the condition of the body.
“The face had completely turned skeletal. Only the bones were visible,” a police officer said, adding that there was also a deep wound at the back of the head and blood stains on the stairs. Police suspect Man Singh may have died after falling from the staircase, and that stray dogs later mauled his face.
During inspection of the premises, police found stray dogs roaming inside the building, some allegedly with blood stains around their mouths. Circle officer Prateek Dahiya said the rest of the body was largely intact.
“It appears that after the fall, stray dogs may have licked or mauled the face, causing the skin and flesh to disappear. The exact cause of death will be clear only after the postmortem,” he said.
Ghungchai station house officer (SHO), Jai Shankar Singh, along with a forensic team, examined the scene before sending the body to the district hospital for autopsy. Police said the family has not made any allegations so far and no complaint has yet been received. Further action will depend on the postmortem findings, officials said.
