Not a single tear was shed as 54 unclaimed bodies and 11 body parts were laid on top of each other in a single open grave dug out at the 9-Mile Cemetery in Port Moresby this week.

It was a rather undignified way to go for the corpses. What were once loved ones clearly had been forgotten — every single one of them.

But what was even sadder was the 9 bodies of children among the mass burial after six months had gone by with not a single family member coming forward to claim them.

A mass burial is unusual in Melanesian society such as Papua New Guinea, but without relatives collecting the bodies it had to be done.

Wrapped in plastic bags and put in standard plain box coffins, the bodies and body parts were taken to the cemetery from the Port Moresby General Hospital in two trucks.

The bodies have been at the mortuary and other makeshift storage containers.

The covid-19 situation in NCD also complicated matters for the hospital and the relatives of the deceased.

No time to waste
At the burial site, it was no time to waste for the morgue attendees as they unloaded the two truckloads containing the bodies and body parts and quickly lowered them stacked into the hole in the ground.

Port Moresby General Hospital director for medical services Dr Kone Sobi said the mass burial came into effect following several media announcements following the overwhelming burden at the morgue facility.

“We come from a Melanesian society and this kind of sending off our loved ones is not expected, however it has to be done,” Dr Sobi said.

“We had to go through due process as it takes time to comply with the processes to take place.

“The mass burial was for dead bodies that have been in the morgue since March, April and May this year.

“There were requests after the initial announcements for mass burial from relatives and friends of the deceased in the name list to reserve and claim their loved ones.”

He said the hospital allowed that process to take place and the period had lapsed.

An approved list
“We then provide the approved list from the coroner to the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) to conduct the mass burial.

“If the body is not claimed after two weeks, then this goes to the Coroner to give an authorisation and once it is authorised, the mass burial is carried out,” he said.

The mortuary is the function of the NCDC social services division and it is the responsible of the office of the governor who has appointed a contractor to carry out the mass burial and all the parties involved have allowed and assisted the hospital to carry out this exercise.

He said the usual costs for mass burial was about K90,000 (about NZ$38,000) because a mass burial is carried out on a quarterly basis during a year, so one mass burial costs about K30,000. However, for this year’s exercise, NCDC is responsible for the costs.

For these mass burials, there were 54 adult bodies, nine children and 11 body parts from individuals who have been involved in accidents and people who have had injuries resulting in amputation of upper and lower limbs.

This is a combination of two mass burials that were supposed to be carried out in the year.

Dr Sobi said that for this year, this was the first mass burial exercise to be carried out.

Grace Auka-Salmang is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The final autopsy report on Post-Courier journalist Rosalyn Albaniel Evara, handed to the Papua New Guinean Coroner’s Court last week, has an “undetermined death” finding.

Chief Pathologist Dr Seth Fose conducted the full autopsy and compiled the report, saying the cause of death was undetermined due to embalming, which had restricted the evidence at the time of autopsy, despite there being a reported history of domestic or physical violence.

While police investigations continue, Coroner Mekeo Gauli, said the journalist’s death earlier this month would not be taken lightly, as there was a huge public outcry for justice.

READ MORE: PNG prime minister O’Neill condemns violence against women, reports Pacific Media Watch

Evara died on 15 October 2017 at her company residence in the Port Moresby suburb of Boroko after she had complained of severe headaches.

The report of her death and the circumstances surrounding it received widespread calls for further investigations when her aunt, Mary Albaniel, revealed disturbing images of her bruised body during her funeral.

The pictures, according to Albaniel, were taken a day after her death, before the deceased’s body was taken to the funeral home.

The body then underwent embalming, the process of preserving the human flesh after death to delay decomposition.

Common sense
Medical practitioners say it is common sense that the autopsy must take place before the embalming.

This is the basis for Dr Fose’s medical opinion. He stated that based upon the autopsy of tissue microscopy analysis and police report to the coroner, a cause of death could be determined.

Adding that the contributing factor in limiting identification and interpretation of evidence of injuries, trauma, and natural disease was embalming artefacts and changes present at time of autopsy in spite of the history of domestic or physical assault.

However, as the funeral pictures revealed, the issue has not been taken lightly.

Coroner Gauli said that because of the keen public interest in this case, the matter will not be taken lightly.

He told EMTV that in a situation where nobody is charged, it would be up to him to call an inquest for all involved parties to come forward and give evidence before the National Court.

Public outcry
When the police concluded their investigations, the death would go before the coroner to give his decision.

Detective Chief Sergeant Ulagis Mantu of the police Homicide Division said investigations were still ongoing because of public outcry.

He said that while the coroner himself will give his opinion on the matter of the final report, he was calling on Rosalyn Evara’s family to come forward and give him their statements.

Staycey Yalois is an EMTV News journalist. Asia Pacific Report republishes EMTV News reports with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz