There was drama at the Tema Community Nine Cemetery on Saturday, when two mortuary men from the Tema General Hospital aggressively removed a dead body from its coffin at the cemetery, over the refusal of the bereaved family to pay an amount of GHc 150 (Approx. $33) as undertaking charges.
The incident, which was a surprise to many, happened in the full glare of family members and sympathisers of the bereaved family, who had gone to lay their dead to rest.
In a state of shock, the sympathisers who had gone to the cemetery to mourn with the bereaved family, stood helplessly, as they looked on while the body was removed from the coffin by the two angry mortuary men.
Just as the coffin was about to be put into the grave, the two mortuary men appeared at the cemetery, and demanded the family of the bereaved paid an amount of 150ghc owed an undertaker, who had dressed the body at the hospital prior to the burial.
According to one of the mortuary men who spoke to Citi News on condition of anonymity, their action at the cemetery was informed based on the fact that the family of the bereaved failed to pay an amount of 150ghc that was changed as service fee for dressing the body and preparing it for the family.
“The undertaker who dressed the body, charged the bereaved family 150ghc for dressing their body; but the family decided to runaway with the body after the undertaker had dressed it. So we got wind of the incident and got angry hence our action at the cemetery. Though we took the body out of the coffin in an attempt to bring it back to the mortuary for safe keep until such time the money was paid.
Some sympathisers intervened later and paid us a negotiable amount of one hundred Ghana cedis which we accepted and allowed them to have the body for burial.”
The mortuary man noted that “some families are fond of taking advantage of us without paying us (the mortuary men) our service charges, so what we did last Saturday is to serve as a warning to those who would want to take advantage of us and exploit us in the course of our work. We the mortuary men sometimes have our special services we render to families whose bodies are with us and some families often than not decide to breach it. We shall not allow that again” he said.
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