Two families in Essequibo had more pain added to their grief following a mix-up by a funeral home that resulted in one family cremating the relative of the other last Saturday.
According to Rakesh Ram, son of deceased Oodit Ram of Mainstay, Essequibo, said that he was told that his father died from Covid-19 and as such would not be allowed to see his body. He said the family was forced to incur additional expense by having to purchase a coffin as they were only informed about the cause of death one day before the funeral. All rituals were performed in the name of Oodit Ram according to Hindu rights.
“I am really frustrated. We tried everything to give our father a decent cremation according to Hindu rights only to find out our father is still at the parlour,” Rakesh Ram lamented.
Meanwhile granddaughter of the deceased Nathan Fiedtkou of Onderneeming Sandpit related that when her family showed up Sunday morning at the Suddie Funeral home they were told that the body was already cremated.
Stacy Fiedtkou said that her grandfather died seven days ago and relatives were awaiting the arrival of other overseas relatives. She said that the family keenly planned his funeral and were very disturbed at the way things have occurred. She also wanted to know what happened to the ‘tagging’ system that was promised by the hospital.
She said that they still carried out the funeral service Sunday morning without a body.
“We had a coffin with the clothes only, the tomb was built [but] nothing was put [in]. Our grandfather was cremated instead, everyone showed up for viewing and could not see him,” Stacy said.
She also mentioned that the management of the Suddie Funeral Home reached out to the family and offered their sympathy.
“We had families coming from Canada, Linden, and all parts just to see our grandfather who is the only one alive” Stacy said.
Meanwhile contact was made with the Chairman of the Suddie Funeral Home Charran Sarajeet who said they regretted the inconvenience caused.
He also said that the management is reaching out to the families and an amicable solution will be arrived at. Sarajeet assured that full responsibility will be taken to ensure that the remaining corpse be buried. He said that one of the deceased died from Covid-19 and as such it’s a sensitive situation as well. He also promised that situation will not reoccur.
The management is currently faced with a shortage of staff coupled with the pandemic.
Only recently another family faced a similar situation when there was a mix-up of bodies at the Charity Parlour. Families were promised a tagging system would be put in place, but to date it has not been implemented.
