A grieving woman was so devastated by her husband’s death that she couldn’t bear to report it – and slept next to his corpse for almost a year.

The mummified remains of Marcel H, 79, lay undiscovered in a Brussels apartment.

It’s thought that he died of an asthma attack in November last year, but his beloved 69-year-old wife, who hasn’t been named, continued to sleep next to the grisly remains, despite the smell of decomposition.

Neighbours didn’t detect any unusual odours and the authorities in Belgium only became suspicious after the landlord claimed the couple had not paid their rent since 2012.

When they entered the apartment they found the mummified remains of Marcel H.

Philippe Boxho, pathologist at the Forensic Center of Liege said: ‘A body can mummify in a dry, warm environment.

‘It takes at least a week to reach such a state. In this case the body had rotten in the bed and his internal organs had melted and liquefied.

‘This liquid would have spread and the bed would have been swarming with insects as the body rotted, this would have been a real shame.

‘Even though the smell of human decay is quite specific, many people equate that smell to the smell of garbage and once the body has become rotten the smell does decrease significantly.

‘This is not the first time I have made a discovery of this kind, I've been faced with two or three other occasions where people have continued to sleep with the corpse of their partner.’