By Izunna Okafor
AWKA– In what can be described as an unusual situation, a woman’s corpse has been kept in a mortuary in Anambra state for four years and three months, due to a dispute among her children over the ownership and distribution of her late husband’s property.
The incident occurred in Awka-Etiti, Idemili South Local Government Area of the State.
According to the woman’s daughter, simply identified as Mrs. Okonkwo, their mother died in January 2020 and was deposited in the mortuary, where she has remained without a burial.
She attributed the delay in burying their mother to the unyielding stance of their brother, Mr. Isaac, who has insisted that the corpse will not be buried until the issue of sharing their late father’s property is resolved.
While noting that their late father had two houses in Aba, Abia State, the deceased’s married daughter said she had made several attempts, including visiting the said elder brother in Aba, to call him for a family discussion on how to bury their late mother, but all efforts proved futile.
She explained that their late father’s property and documents are in a probate court in Umuahia, Abia State capital, while their elder brother insists that there must be a settlement about the property before their mother can be buried.
The daughter also revealed that the brother has been repeatedly invited to the probate court to settle any issues related to the property, but he has never shown up, and continues to insist that their mother’s burial will not take place until the family property dispute is resolved.
With tears, the deceased’s daughter recounted how the brother had caused worry and distress to their late mother when she was alive, including mismanaging and selling some of their late father’s property that was entrusted to him after his death. She expressed regret that such unyielding behavior is still being exhibited by him, even now that their parents are gone, to the point of impeding their mother’s burial and abandoning her corpse in the mortuary for over four years.
Reacting to the situation, the Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs. Ify Obinabo, who comforted the deceased’s daughter, condemned such an act, particularly the prolonged abandonment of the deceased’s corpse in the mortuary. She assured the daughter of her Ministry’s intervention in the matter and pledged to reach out to the said brother to ensure the right thing is done.
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