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• Funeral parlour tells mourners body is gone
• Baby corpse exhumed after cops intervene

Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
TWO Bulawayo families went through a harrowing nightmare after a funeral parlour’s blunder saw a wrong body being buried in a mix up that ultimately saw a six-week-old baby’s corpse being exhumed for reburial.

The families’ agony started when the family of the six-week-old baby went to collect the body for burial on Saturday at Nyaradzo Funeral parlour in the city, only to be told that it had gone missing.

An investigation led to traumatising events that culminated in an exhumation and a reburial after it was discovered that another family that had lost a three-year-old baby had been given a wrong body – that of the six-week-old baby.

The family proceeded to bury the baby on Friday.

Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo confirmed the incident yesterday, saying the matter had since been resolved.

“A case of a mix up of bodies was brought to our attention and we brought the families together and solved the matter amicably,” said Insp Moyo.

Nyaradzo Bulawayo branch manager Justin Muchazivepi also confirmed the incident but declined to comment further.

“This is a sensitive issue that involves two bereaved families,” said Muchazivepi.

Efforts to get a comment from the family that initially buried the wrong body were fruitless as it could not be located immediately.

The family of the six-week-old baby confirmed the mix-up when The Chronicle visited their home in Nguboyenja yesterday.

They however, declined to comment further.

Sources said the six-week-old baby died on Thursday, only for the mistake to be discovered on Saturday.

The body was exhumed from West Park cemetery on Saturday and reburied the following day at the same cemetery.

It was not immediately clear where the other body was buried.

A source said: “The family was shocked when officials told them that the body of their baby was not at the parlour.

“They told the officials that it was impossible because arrangements had been made for the body to be taken to Nyaradzo and they had agreed that the baby’s body would be taken for burial on Saturday.”

The source said it was then discovered that some officials at the parlour had handed over the body to another family the previous day. That family apparently did not conduct baby viewing.

“After thoroughly checking, it was realised that the body had been handed over to another family who proceeded to bury the baby, leaving the body of their three-year-old toddler,” said the source who is familiar with the incident.

“The officials at Nyaradzo called the family but it was too late because they had already buried the baby.”

The families were brought together and it was agreed that the baby be exhumed and be re-buried by its family.

The source added that Nyaradzo acknowledged that it was a mistake on their side and apologised for the mix-up.