The owner of a mortuary situated at Isuaniocha in Awka North Council Area of Anambra State, Mr Uchenna Ugochukwu Joseph, and the mortician has been charged to court over the missing corpse of late Okeke Chinonso, a 26-year-old female.
The State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Mrs. Ify Obinabo directed the ministry’s Legal Unit to file the prosecution papers, after listening to the Complainants, Mrs Rejoice Odogwu, sister to the deceased and Mr Sopuruchukwu Okeke, the deceased husband.
According to the deceased’s sister, Mrs. Rejoice, they had deposited the body of the late Chinonso at New Century Medical Complex Mortuary Isuaniocha on the 4th of August, 2023, but when they were ready to bury their dead, they were given another corpse entirely different from who they admitted.
She said upon inquiry, the mortician insisted that who they were given, was who they brought, which according to them is not true.
“The corpse, which was handed over to us, was that of an older woman, whereas our sister was a 26-year-old female. She lived with me for a while before she married so she is very young.
“Also, the body deposited was on low cut before and after death but the body they gave us had her hair weaved and the body has been operated upon whereas our own has never undergone any form of surgery among other things,” she said.
On his part, the deceased husband, Mr Sopuruchukwu Okeke notified the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, that after they refused to take the corpse which the mortician was forcing down their throat, the owner of the mortuary Mr Uchenna Ugochukwu Joseph started threatening them for refusing to take the embalmed body.
When asked why they never visited the mortuary, Mrs Rejoice said that on her part, she was scared of going to the place as she could not control her emotions, but noted that her in-law’s elder sister was denied access to the place because the mortuary attendant told her that they don’t give pregnant women access to the morgue.
They also hinted that all the while, the sister-in-law was coming to see the deceased which they kept denying her access, the mortician kept asking for the date of the burial which they didn’t take as anything but rather trusted their services, only to get defrauded of her late sister’s remain.
“We are from Ezinifite Okpuno Awka, but my sister until her death, lived with her husband at Nkpor. S
“It was during childbirth that she died, which made us bring her body near home to enable us to prepare for the burial only to be defrauded of her corpse in October when we came to carry her remains,” she lamented.
She further revealed that the mortuary owner had afterward, approached them with the sum of 850,000 naira for settlement after the matter had been reported to the community.
After listening to the Complainants and asking necessary questions, the women’s affairs boss Hon Obinabo assured them of justice and further handed the case over to her legal unit.
Our correspondent can confirm that the case has been filed and called up at Magistrate Court Achalla for a hearing.
