The body of Pari Mallick alias Farida Begum, who had died on November 1, 2007, had been lying in the morgue, as both her husband and daughter fought for her body.

Farida was admitted to Howrah State General Hospital by her second husband Zikariya Mallick, whom she married in 1973 after the demise of her first husband Prasad Bakshi.

But after she died, Bandana, her daughter from her first husband made a claim over her body. This led to a tussle between Mallick and Bandana with the former filing a petition in the Calcutta High Court in November 2007.

While hearing the case on December 12, 2007, the court had asked the state government to go by the rule and also directed the hospital authority to preserve the body in the morgue until the verdict is delivered.