Compiled by DIVYA THERESA RAVI, ALLISON LAI and R. ARAVINTHAN
A DISABLED man had a harrowing experience with a funeral service provider, which took his late wife’s body for a low fee but demanded higher handling charges later.
The man was subsequently pressured into paying nearly RM2,000, and faced the threat of having his wife’s remains withheld until the full amount was paid.
A volunteer from Pertubuhan Sentuhan Setia Kasih, a charity organisation in Selangor, shared the recent incident online, reported China Press.
The man’s wife had died at a private hospital in Ampang.
Two funeral workers who claimed to be authorised by the hospital had then allegedly taken charge of the deceased’s body, initially agreeing to accept only RM500 for cleaning and burial services.
However, after transporting the body to a mosque near Bulatan Pahang, they allegedly demanded a further RM1,900 from the husband.
The two claimed that the initial RM500 paid covered only the hearse, and did not include RM400 for shrouding and cleaning, and RM1,000 for the burial plot.
With the man being unable to come up with the money, the wife’s body was kept at the mosque until a religious teacher sought help from the organisation, and the deceased was eventually buried.
Condemning the incident, the volunteer called for an investigation by the authorities.
> A man from Dongguan, China, sued his wife for 230,000 yuan (RM140,000) after discovering that his elder daughter was not his biological child following 18 years of marriage, the daily also reported.
A recent paternity test revealed the truth and the man, surnamed Gu, decided to take legal action.
His wife Li defended herself in court by stating that she had informed him of her pregnancy at the time of their marriage, before they had been intimate.
Following mediation, the couple agreed that Gu would get custody of their younger daughter and Li would pay him 50,000 yuan (RM30,000) as compensation.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a, it denotes a separate news item.
