A tragic case of neglect and isolation resurfaced in Hyderabad this week when skeletal remains discovered in a deserted house in the Nampally market area were confirmed to belong to Ameer Khan, a man who had been missing since 2015.

The remains were found in a dilapidated house once owned by Muneer Khan, the father of ten children. Ameer, his third son, was the sole occupant of the house while the rest of the family had moved elsewhere over the years. On Monday, the discovery was made purely by chance when a group of children playing cricket lost their ball inside the locked premises. One of them entered through the compound and encountered a strong odor coming from the kitchen area. He recorded a video of what he found — a skeleton lying face-down on the kitchen floor surrounded by untouched utensils — and shared it, causing the clip to quickly circulate on social media.

Authorities were alerted by locals shortly after noon. Officers from Habeeb Nagar Police Station and a forensic team were dispatched to the scene, where they discovered the remains partly buried under dust and debris. The skeleton was clothed in a pair of shorts, and the surroundings had clearly remained undisturbed for years.

While the identity of the deceased was initially uncertain, a breakthrough came with the discovery of an old Nokia mobile phone near the body. Although the battery was long dead, police managed to power it up with help from a local repair shop. The phone revealed a vital clue — 84 missed calls from friends and relatives logged in May 2015, leading investigators to narrow down the time of death. “The phone showed 84 missed calls from the year 2015. That gave us the first clear timeline,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kishan Kumar.

Adding weight to the timeline, police recovered demonetised currency notes from beneath a pillow inside the house. Since these notes were taken out of circulation in November 2016, it is presumed Ameer died before that period. ACP Kumar remarked, “He must have died 10 years ago. It appears that none of his siblings or associates tried to check on him.”

Despite the house being part of a property where rent was regularly collected from nearby shops, no one from the family reported Ameer missing or attempted to enter the locked home. According to ACP Kumar, “It appears there wasn’t much interaction between him and other family members.” His younger brother, Shadab Khan — who now manages the property — was able to confirm the identity by recognising a ring and the pair of shorts on the body.

There were no signs of injury or struggle at the scene. “We found no signs of struggle or blood marks. It may have been a natural death,” ACP Kumar said. He added, “The deceased was believed to be around 50 years old, unmarried and possibly suffering from mental health issues.”

The body has since been moved to a local mortuary for post-mortem examination, and samples have been collected by the CLUES forensic team for further investigation.

This unsettling case has raised difficult questions about urban solitude, mental health, and familial neglect. A man lay dead for nearly a decade in one of Hyderabad’s busiest commercial areas — unnoticed, unmissed, and locked away behind closed doors.