THE body of a Bulawayo man is still stuck in mortuary three
months after his death as his family members continue to fight over the issue
of cremation which some family members consider as alien to their culture.
The deceased, Mr Amos Nkomo, died on December 31 last year
and the body is stuck at Farley Funeral Services parlour in Bulawayo, with his
surviving spouse and daughter demanding cremation while other members are
opposed to it.
The surviving spouse, Mrs Margaret Nkomo and her daughter
Melisa, both of Newton West suburb, want the remains of the deceased to be
cremated while other family members led by Mr Nkomo’s sister, Mrs Eva Zulu (nee
Nkomo) are opposed to cremation arguing that the practice is foreign to their
culture.
The dispute has once again spilled into the courts. Mrs
Zulu and her two siblings Ms Rhoda Nkomo and Esnath Nkomo, through their
lawyers Coghlan and Welsh Legal Practitioners, filed another court application
at the Bulawayo High Court barely two months after their first one was
dismissed as not urgent by Justice Nokuthula Moyo.
In dismissing the urgent chamber application, Justice Moyo
ruled that there was no justification for the matter to jump the queue, saying
the applicants failed to show any risk of irreparable harm.
In her latest ordinary court application, Mrs Zulu cited
Mrs Nkomo and Farley Funeral Services as respondents.
Mrs Zulu and her sisters want an order directing the
respondents to release the body of the deceased within seven days.
They also want Mrs Nkomo to foot the legal bill and the
accumulated mortuary storage fees.
The applicants however, said they would bear all the costs
associated with the burial.
In her founding affidavit, Mrs Zulu said the broader family
was opposed to the cremation of Mr Nkomo’s remains, arguing that it is against
their cultural beliefs.
“This is an application for burial rights specifically for
the order that the remains of the late Amos Nkomo who died on December 31, 2018
be buried according to our family traditions and customs as opposed to
cremation which is sought by the respondents. The remains can be buried at any
appropriate cemetery in Bulawayo,” she said.
“The deceased’s remains have not been buried owing to the
first respondent’s (Mrs Nkomo) refusal, claiming that it was her husband’s wish
to be cremated upon his death.”
Mrs Zulu argued that as the eldest surviving sibling, she
has automatically assumed the patriarchal head of the family status, which
requires her to preserve their cultural rites.
“The deceased whose remains are subject of this application
was our blood brother. In that regard we had a bloodline bond with him. Over
and above, we are bound by long standing family traditions and customs on such
issues as burial rights. As siblings, we have a family and cultural obligation
to deal with our brother’s remains in accordance with known family burial
rites,” she said.
Mrs Zulu said although her sister-in-law by virtue of being
the surviving spouse is the intestate heiress to her husband’s estate, she
however, did not have exclusive rights to determine on the burial aspect.
Since the death of Mr Nkomo, the family has been locked in
a protracted legal dispute over burial rights resulting in accumulation of
mortuary storage fees.
The remains of the deceased have been kept at the mortuary
since December as both parties battle for burial rights. Mrs Zulu said the
broader family wants the body buried whereas Mrs Nkomo and her daughter want it
cremated as per alleged verbal instructions given by the deceased during his
lifetime. Chronicle
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