Gorakhpur (UP), Dec 14 (IANS): A 45-year-old man hid his mother's body under a bed in his house at Shivpur-Shahbazganj for five days.

The neighbours informed the police when they noticed a foul stench emanating from the house.

After searching the house, police have sent the body for post-mortem.

Shanti Devi, the deceased, was a retired teacher who died at the age of 82. Nikhil Mishra Dabbu was her only son.

According to neighbours, Nikhil was an alcoholic and would often argue with his mother for money.

On being asked about the reason behind hiding the body, Nikhil told cops that he had no money for her funeral.

Sources said Nikhil's wife and his son also lived with him in the house but 15 days ago, his wife took their son and went to her father's house as she was fed up with her husband's behaviour.

Some portions of the house had been rented out but the tenants also left a month ago due to Nikhil's bad behaviour.

SP North Manoj Kumar Awasthi said that it appeared that Nikhil is mentally unstable and an alcoholic. "We are waiting for the post-mortem report before we start further investigations."