Confusion as family buries wrong body after mortuary mix up

ruby orimba

May 21, 2018 11:48 AM

After the burial, the family received a call from the hospital informing them of the mix up

A family in Homa Bay County was forced to exhume the body of their kin and organise a second burial after a mortuary mix-up.

It was discovered that they had buried the wrong corpse, belonging to a man who shared a name with their kin.

The family of 52-year-old Jacob Osumba, a local carpenter who died about two weeks ago after suffering from unknown disease, mistakenly buried the body of Jacob Opiyo, following a mortuary mix up.

As reported by SDE, they started their journey to the mortuary, situated a few kilometres away. On arrival, they began the process of clearing with the hospital by settling the mortuary bills.

Name

Upon paying, they went to the morgue to take the body of their loved one.

They took the body, which, besides sharing a name and having been brought at the mortuary on the same day with Opiyo's, was too swollen in the face for anyone to notice the difference and buried it the following day.

During the burial, family members and friends eulogised Osumba as a man who contributed well to development of the society.

Verify

However, the following day, the family got a phone call from the hospital, claiming they had buried a wrong body. According to area Chief Nelson Muma, who is also a brother-in-law to Osumba, the family had to leave for the hospital to verify the deceased’s details.

“The family first moved to the hospital to find out truth on details of the body. When we went there, we found that, indeed, we had picked a wrong body,” said Muma.

The family realised that they had picked the body of Opiyo, a resident of Asumbi village in Rangwe Sub County, instead of Osumba’s. “It is true that the names were similar and I think that is how the confusion arose,” he added.

ruby orimba