The family of the late Atty. John P. Namayan, who died in a tragic motor accident in Salala on the Gbarnga highway, is blaming St. Margaret Funeral Service for injecting their family member without a death certificate from a medical center signed by the deceased’s wife.
By: Mae Azango [email protected]
According to an eyewitness, the accident occurred on February 23rd when a police jeep ran into the taxi carrying the deceased in Salala en route to Monrovia, leaving a few dead and several wounded.
Gizzie K. Kollince, the nephew of the deceased, said when they received the news about the accident, they hurried to the scene and were told their relative was taken to a health center in Kakata. However, upon searching two health facilities, they could not locate their uncle. A nurse from one of the centers told him that a driver and a police officer took his uncle to St. Margaret’s funeral home.
“When we arrived at the funeral home and asked why they received a body without a death certificate or the family’s consent, the man at the funeral home said the police and a driver delivered the body, but there was no death certificate with it. He then said they had already put fluid into the body and had begun the embalming process. I then asked how he could have embalmed a body without a death certificate to know if the deceased was unconscious or not? To add to this, he asked the family to pay US $500.00 before taking our body,” he said.
He further said they filed a formal complaint at the police depot in Kakata, and when he was invited to the depot, the police asked him for the death certificate. When he said there was none, he was then asked if he injected any fluid into the deceased, and when he said yes, the police charged him with murder for injecting a body without confirmation of death.
“So if he was unconscious or in a coma after the accident, then how are we even sure if the fluid injected into his body was not responsible for his death?” said Kollince.
The sister-in-law of the deceased, Rev. Maimi Swen, via mobile, said she expected St. Margaret Funeral Home to have waited to get authorization from the family before touching the body.
“When we took the body from Kakata to Stryker Funeral Home, the funeral home said it could not touch the body unless the wife fills in and signs an authorization form before they touch her husband. This is how a decent funeral home is supposed to behave,” said Rev. Swen.
Criminal Service Division (CSD) commander, James O. Ballah, said at first, he arrested and detained Mr. D. Fedrick Somah, who received the body at St. Margaret funeral home and charged him with murder because he injected an accident victim without a death certificate.
“We followed the case and found out the deceased was taken to the Barcolleh Health Center and was pronounced dead on arrival, so I released Mr. Somah the next morning because I don’t think the fluid injected into the deceased killed him if the hospital said he was dead on arrival,” said CSD commander Ballah.
At the Barcolleh Health Center, Registered Nurse Princess Fatormah said by 2:45 p.m. a vehicle arrived at her health center, and she saw the accident victim in the back seat accompanied by a police officer and the driver.
“I sent for the testing device to check for vital signs and a heartbeat, but when I concluded the test, there was no vital sign, neither a heartbeat, so he was dead on arrival (DOA). We told the driver and officer we did not have a cooling facility to keep the body, so they took it away. Later, we heard they took the body to the funeral home” she said
When questioned as to why the facility did not provide a death certificate, she said the victim test was done in the vehicle, and the officer and driver were in a hurry to take the body away when they heard he was dead so their facility could not prepare a death certificate in a short time, but they had a chat of all the information for the hospital record.
When this paper requested a copy of the hospital record, she said it could only be given to the wife of the deceased or to a court, if requested as it is not a public record.
FPA visited the St. Margaret Funeral Service, Mr. Somah, who was earlier detained by the police, said he could not speak in the absence of his boss.
But both telephone numbers were switched off.
Nephew Kollince said even if the police released the man at the funeral home, the family will get to the root and take legal step against the funeral for injecting the body without a death certificate or the family’s consent.