A 60-year-old man shared a two-room apartment with his mother's corpse for five years, concealing her death so he could receive her pension, French police said Saturday.
Intrigued that the woman born in 1904 still received social security payments, social services in the Mediterranean port city of Marseilles asked police to investigate.
The suspicions of officers arriving at the home of the woman who should have been more than 100 years old were increased by a nauseating stench, police said.
In response to police demands, the woman's son opened the door to reveal a small rubbish-strewn apartment and the remains of his mother who died of natural causes five years ago.
The 60-year-old jobless man admitted he did not tell anyone she died so he could continue receiving her pension. He told police he went as far as imitating her frail voice behind the closed door whenever rare visitors came by.
Police said the man, who seemed to suffer from a mental disability, was referred to the prosecutor's office and told he could be charged with concealing a corpse and fraud. The man was released on bail.
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