A superstitious family kept the body of a dead relative in their house for ten months to keep spirits out.

Three members of the same family were found living with the highly-decomposed body of a female relative in their house in Nagercoil, India.

After a neighbour complained about the foul smell from the house in Ramavarma Puram, police found the body of 56-year-old Umadevi covered with a bedspread in one of the rooms. She had died on December 3, 2012.

The son of the deceased, her mother and her brother, were admitted to a government hospital as it was suspected they may have an infection and psychological disorder, Hindustan Times reports.

Police said Umadevi's mother Sarojini, her son Sivaraman and her brother Sellampillai had always kept their house locked and did not speak to neighbours.

They had been living on the family pension of Sarojini's husband Subramaniam Pillai. As Sarojini did not appear for a renewal of life certificate, they did not get the pension in recent months.

Police originally suspected the body had been kept in the house because they couldn't afford to pay for a cremation but then officers suspected they may be unwell. 

'All the three looked like they had psychological problem. That is also one of the reasons why we referred them to the hospital,' police said.

However, graduate Sellampillai told police his father died after seeing a ghost in the house and he kept his sister's body in the house to stop spirits from entering.

'My brother, Perumal, also died and now my sister, Umadevi, has died. Someone said that if there is dead body in the house, then the ghost will not come.'    

Police officials said Sellampillai spoke to them in fluent English.