She had been staying there for more than three weeks.
By Hajira Ajlan
A 67-year-old American woman died under mysterious circumstances in her hotel room at McLeod Ganj, a suburb of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, on Sunday night. The deceased, identified just as Leeliyan (67), had been staying in the hotel since June 20th.
She was locked from the inside and the room had to be broken into after the hotel staff reported of a foul smell coming from it. “Nobody saw her coming out of her room for the last three to four days,†The Times of India quoted investigation officer and assistant sub-inspector of  McLeodganj Rajender Kumar as saying. “It appears that she had died two to three days before. Statements of the hotel staff have been recorded and we have intimated the embassy.”
The police sent the body for the post-mortem on Monday for further investigation. “We have sent her body from Dharamshala to Tanda medical college Kangra for post-mortem. It was swollen and had blue marks. The cause of death can be ascertained only after her post-mortem, “said Kumar.
According to The Times, police’s failure to seal the crime space triggered a controversy. “The hotel room has not been sealed, but we have taken the bed sheet into our custody and will send it to the forensic lab on Wednesday,†the paper quoted senior district police official Hitesh Lakhnapal as saying. “Authentic information will come out only after reports of post-mortem and FSL are received.â€
Meanwhile, the police have put the belongings of the diseased in safe custody and have informed the US embassy in New Delhi.
McLeod Ganj, with an elevation of nearly 7,000 feet, is a popular destination for Buddhist pilgrims and tourists. It is roughly 300 miles from Delhi by road. The Tibetan Government in Exile is based in the city.