Roland Routh
The siblings of a 47-year-old man who died on 8 April are locked in a clash with their sister-in-law over his preferred burial site.
The late Paul Johannes Karuaihe’s surviving siblings Umbiro, Connie, Patty and Kanono have turned to their lawyer to compel their sister-in-law Othene Dawn Karuaihe to postpone this Saturday’s burial of their brother.
They also want his burial to take place in Windhoek and not Gobabis as the widow prefers. The sisters want his remains to be interred at the Gammams cemetery in Pionierspark in line with the family’s long-standing tradition.
Othene reportedly prefers to bury her late husband in Gobabis this Saturday.
The four Karuaihe sisters instructed law firm Fisher, Quarmby & Pfeifer to write to their sister-in-law indicating that due to the current lockdown and the Covid-19 state of emergency their respective families would not be able to attend the funeral.
“Our instructions are therefore to kindly request you to hold-over the burial of the deceased until after the lockdown to enable our clients and their respective families to attend the burial of the deceased, as you are well aware that the deceased comes from a big family,” the letter reads in part.
The letter further says that there will be no prejudice to any of the deceased’s loved ones to delay the funeral until after the lockdown as the body will be properly cared for in the morgue until such time. “We also hold instructions to kindly request you to reconsider the place of burial of the deceased, since the family of the deceased have a separate burial section in the Pionerspark cemetery, where most of the predeceased family members of the deceased have been buried.” They further said they also hold instructions to request that the sisters be part of the funeral of the deceased in its entirety, as they wish to exercise their cultural and religious rituals during the burial. The siblings also want to be granted an opportunity host a memorial service in honour of their late brother, with his remains present to enable all relatives and friends to pay their last respects. The bereaved widow was given until this past Tuesday to respond to the letter of demand. The siblings also added that they had no intention to disrupt the lives of the widow and her children in any way. They said they intend to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner during the time of bereavement and funeral. Speaking to New Era yesterday, one the siblings, Umbiro said they want their brother to be buried according to their tradition and culture. “It is not a secret that we did not get along with the wife of our brother, but we did get along with him and we loved him very much, that is why we want to give him a dignified send-off and not to just be buried away from his ancestors,” Umbiro said yesterday. Efforts to get a response from the widow proved futile yesterday.