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Family in bitter fight over cemetery plot

Written by DeadGirl
Saturday, 05 June 2004
Woman wants uncle's body exhumed from grandparents' grave Suthentira Govender A North Coast woman is embroiled in a bitter feud with relatives over a cemetery plot she claims was bought by her late mother to preserve her grandparents' graves. The long-standing family feud came to a head last week when Cookie Pillay, of Kwa-Dukuza, failed to prevent the burial of her estranged uncle, Ronnie Naidoo, at the Stanger Hindu Cemetery. She is now demanding that the body be exhumed and buried elsewhere. Pillay and her four aunts have all staked a claim to the gravesite. The KwaDukuza municipality allowed Naidoo to be buried in the grave, where his parents were laid to rest more than 20 years ago. Sam Singh, acting director of operations, said in terms of the Cemeteries and Crematorium Act, "the next of kin are entitled to be buried at the same site". But an emotional Pillay this week vowed to end her life if the municipality did not exhume Naidoo's body and bury him at another site. "When I received a telephone call from one of my relatives last week asking me for permission to bury my estranged uncle at the gravesite, I knew there was going to be trouble," she said. With the help of a family friend, she submitted an affidavit to the municipality stating that her late mother, Parvathy Pillay, had bought the plot consisting of three graves. "More than 10 years ago, the municipality published a notice in the local newspaper that it was running out of burial space and people were going to be buried in graves that were 20 years or older. "My mother was determined to preserve her parents' graves. One of her sisters had also been buried there, and she did not want her grave to be disturbed either," said Pillay. She said her mother bought the graves for R100 each. "My mother's brothers and sisters did not contribute to the payment of the graves. As far as I am concerned, my mother owned the site." But proof of purchase was misplaced when Pillay moved house about seven years ago. "My mother and her family had been estran-ged for many years. I made a promise to her that I would not allow anybody to be buried in the grave. I did not even bury my mother or brother at the site, in order to fulfil the promise I made to her." Pillay said the municipality should have declared a dispute when Naidoo's family submitted a contradictory affidavit. "They have stolen my mother's graves." Pillay has appointed an attorney to help her gain access to the municipality's records "to prove my mother bought the graves". Singh said Pillay could not produce a receipt to prove her mother owned the plot. "I am surprised she is behaving in this manner. My decision was based on the Act. I did not want to be involved in the personal differences of the families." Mogambal Govender, Naidoo's sister, contended that her brother had bought the grave many years ago. "It was his last wish that he be buried in his mother's grave. He wanted to be close to our parents when he passed on, because they died when he was quite young. "All we have done is fulfil our brother's last wish, we have not stolen anything," said Govender. http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/2004/06/06/news/durban/ndbn02.asp

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Taphophilia?

taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)

ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"

DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries