A man in northern Italy has not announced the death of his nine-year-old mother, leaving her body to rot for six months on the couch, to continue spending her pension, according to a prosecutor investigating the case today.
The body of Alba Birano was discovered last Thursday after her doctor, who had not been informed for some time, asked the police to inspect her condition. They found a body that had not been touched since the time of death, presumably in mid-August.
"It's a very sad and absurd story," said the prosecutor in the northwestern coastal town of Savona, Giovanni Battista Ferro, who said he had never seen anything like it.
Franco Cerillo, 63, told Ferro that his mother had died "while feeding him some yoghurt" and "quietly admitted" the two crimes he had been charged with - hiding a body and cheating on social welfare.
The prosecutor added that the events occurred in a secluded house in Albisola, a small town near Savona. Cirillo also lived there with an autistic son in his late 20s, and his neighbors did not notice anything unusual.