Man moves into new home, finds corpse in box under his bed

A man moving into his new home found a six-month-old dead corpse left hidden in a box under his bed.

Cleaners hired by new homeowner of an apartment in India made the gruesome discovery after gaining access to the previously locked flat, reported the Hindustan Times .

The third story apartment, located in the in the central-Indian city of Bhopal, had been purchased by Ramvir Singh Rajput in July 2018.

He had not been able to access his new home after the previous owners requested more time to vacate before they vanished, leaving the property locked. 

After months of trying to access the apartment, Mr Rajput was finally given the green light to have a duplicate key made.

Cleaners were let into the property on Sunday, which led to the horror find of the mummified corpse.

Authorities have since confirmed the body was the apartment's previous owner, Vimla Shrivastava.

Her son Amit, 32, who lived at the flat with her is nowhere to be found, the Times of India reported.

Authorities have revealed that Shrivastava's body was found in a box, wrapped in a cotton blanket and clothes.

Although police believe that the woman's body has been there for six months, the corpse had not decomposed - instead mummifying as the blanket and mattress soaked up the body fluids.

A search is now underway for Shrivastava's son Amit; who local authorities have called "mentally disturbed".

The cause of death has not been identified, but police have confirmed that foul play has not been ruled out.