What was meant to be a solemn day of mourning quickly spiraled into a bewildering incident in Upper Corentyne, Berbice, when a family discovered they had cremated the wrong body.
Relatives of Rohan Kuma, a 75-year-old remigrant residing in No. 62 Village, were all set to cremate him on Sunday.
Unbeknownst to them at the time, the body they cremated did not belong to Mr. Kuma. It was later discovered that it was a 62-year-old man who was discovered dead in his house.
Stunned by the revelation, both families quickly confronted the funeral home located in No. 60 Village, which had been entrusted with the arrangements. Despite the devastating error, the funeral home denied any responsibility for the mishap.
Relatives of Kuma, including his children who had traveled from overseas for the ceremony, had raised concerns earlier about the appearance of the body during the cremation.
“We asked why his face looked different, and we were told it was because he suffered from high blood pressure,” said one family member.
Tragically, that explanation masked the grim reality that they were saying goodbye to the wrong person.
Kuma’s has since been handed over to his rightful relatives and he was cremated Monday.
Meanwhile, the family of the 62-year-old man opted to settle the issue.
I blame the families from OVERSEAS for the mix up. And the funeral parlor too.
I mean, all jackasses/donkeys look alike, just like tigers, cheetahs, lions, zebras.
But, not all people look alike, especially dead people.
They must not have seen the deceased for many years, therefore, didn’t have an idea what
he looked like.
And for $3000 US, the puzzle was solved and everyone is happier.
The bodies of both men were at the Skeldon Hospital mortuary, supposedly a Ministry of Health Guyana operated institution. Am I wrong here?
The body of a dead person is only released to his/her relatives after signing the necessary
documentations
Was this procedure followed? Were the bodies tagged? Did the relatives/funeral home attendants verify their dead?
Some years ago a similar mistake occurred at the said Skeldon Hospital mortuary where the body of my friend was mistakenly entombed. This incident sounds like a laughing matter but it is not! It is a time of extreme sorrow, anger and frustration for the relatives.
Mechanisms must be put in place for an enquiry so occurrences of this nature would not reoccur at the Skeldon Hospital ever again!
The body that was mistakenly cremated last Sunday was my next door neighbor.
Family and friends of Kuma says they were fooled by the dead the way both deceased persons look alike.
The porter is to be blamed , both deceased was tagged.
He probably don’t know to read the deceased man’s name and give the wrong body to the wrong relatives.
Porter mother look one of the deceased and was asked to give his son who’s the porter the job to do the preparation of the body. So he probably don’t know the deceased man he given away to the wrong family..