Body mix-up: Malaysian minister to reimburse family’s funeral expenses
PETALING JAYA -The family who was wrongly notified of their son’s death and had spent RM20,000 (S$6,000) for the funeral will be compensated, said Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
“I will pay the compensation of RM20,000 myself because they have made preparations and it isn’t fair to them,” he said in Parliament on Wednesday.
“They might be a poor family and RM20,000 is a big amount. So, I will settle this issue in less than 48 hours.”
Datuk Seri Saifuddin was responding to a question from Pakatan Harapan MP M. Kulasegaran who asked whether the shell-shocked family will be compensated as they had spent a large amount on funeral expenses, only to be told hours before the cremation that the body was not their kin.
The family’s ordeal started when the father, who wanted to be identified only as Mr Chantren, received a call from the prison authorities on March 1 that his son had died in jail.
He claimed the 19-year-old’s body and noticed the face looked different.
Nevertheless, Mr Chantren prepared for funeral rites at their family home in Negeri Sembilan and made arrangements to cremate the body.
However, to the family’s surprise, they were informed by the prison authority via a video call just a few hours before cremation that the youth was still alive. - THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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