A 21-year-old man whose body had remained unclaimed at the Lautoka Hospital mortuary since late 2024 was finally laid to rest yesterday after months of legal wrangling.
The man’s decomposed body was discovered near a shop at Field 40, Lautoka, in late October of 2024. Despite efforts to locate his relatives, no family member came forward to claim his remains, leaving the body at the mortuary for almost two years.
Tagimoucia Funeral Services director Shalvin Rohit Krishna said he received legal approval to proceed with the cremation after working closely with the police.
“We had found a close family member, but they did not want to come and claim the body,” Mr Krishna said.
He said the case became complicated because the relative was difficult to locate and initially refused to cooperate with police by providing a DNA sample to confirm the deceased’s identity.
“When they finally cooperated with us, we then had to take it to court to get the legal approval.”
Mr Krishna said mortuary and related costs had accumulated to about $79,000, but the charges were waived because no one came forward to claim the body.
“Everyone dies, that is inevitable so we have to give everyone their final respect.
“Funeral homes, police, government and community organisations often work together to ensure unclaimed individuals are afforded dignity in death.”
