Fashion designer found dead at Kolkata residence

Renowned fashion designer Sharbari Dutta, who earned accolades for her creations in Bollywood and Tollywood, was found dead with a leg injury and blood on face at her home in South Kolkata under mysterious circumstances early Friday. She was the daughter of Bengali poet Ajit Dutta.

While her Facebook profile shows May 7, 1957 as her date of birth reflecting her to be aged 63, the Kolkata Police, however, found it 78 actually after talking to her family members.

Dutta’s body was recovered by her son Amalin, also a fashion designer, and daughter-in-law Kanaklata from the ground floor bathroom of their twostoreyed residence on Broad Street at around 12.30 am.

Amalin and Kanaklata, living at the first floor, said they went down to search for Dutta at the ground floor, where she used to stay, after getting calls from the members of a photoshoot team which failed to connect with the fashion designer repeatedly throughout Thursday.

Dutta, who created ‘Shunyya’ fashion label, had plans to go out with the team on Friday to choose a location for a photoshoot.

Though cardiac arrest looked as the cause of her death in the initial findings of the doctors at Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital where the body was taken, blood stains on her face and an injury mark on her left ankle prompted them to send the body for post mortem.

The city police also started a probe after finding Amalin was unaware of his aged mother’s whereabouts for long hours despite his presence at the same house.

Kanaklata told the police she last saw her mother-in-law on September 16 evening.

The mother-son relation was not reportedly well following a tiff about a family property at Ahmedpur in Birbhum.

But Amalin said, “We had good relation. I did not see her on Thursday as I was very busy in my work. I thought she was busy too.”

In the evening Dutta’s post-mortem report indicated that she fell down at the bathroom after suffering cerebral attack which left her dead at least 24 hours ago.

The autopsy surgeons ruled out foul play.