KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — A Tampin family experienced a real-life plot twist when they found out their son was alive just as they were about to cremate another person’s body.
The funeral held on Sunday at Taman Desa Permai was indefinitely postponed when a phone call from the Prisons Department revealed that they had mixed up their son for his cellmate.
The son’s father, known as Chantren, was told by the Prisons Department that his son had died in Sungai Buloh Prison last Thursday, New Straits Times reported.
The 45-year-old found out that his son, who he believed was living in Selayang, was remanded at the Sungai Buloh Prison on February 28 for an undisclosed offence.
According to Chantren, the prison department claimed that his son fell unconscious and died in his cell the day before.
The department advised Chantren’s family to see the body only after the post-mortem inspection on March 1.
Upon visiting the supposed body of their son the family were confused as to why his head was shaven clean.
Nevertheless, the family claimed the body and its remains and began funeral preparations on Saturday night.
Just before the cremation the next morning at 10am, the family realised they were about to cremate the wrong body.
“The whole family was grieving and making preparations. As we were about to cremate the body at the crematorium, we received a phone call from the Prisons Department,” Chantren said.
“They told us that we have the wrong body. The body was instead of his cellmate, who had died of lung failure. They said our son was still alive and immediately asked us to do a video call.”
The authorities have since collected the wrong body from the family's house.
While the family was relieved their son was still alive, the mix-up had cost them RM20,000 in cremation costs and has still left them baffled.
The son’s mother, known as Parameiswary, has lodged a police report to demand an explanation from the authorities.
“We don't want just a verbal statement, we want this in writing. We also want to see our son, to confirm that he is still alive,” she said.
“This is not a small matter, it's literally a matter of life and death.”
