- A grieving family’s desperation drove them to leave their loved one’s body inside a bank branch to prove she had died
- The Maliwa family said the ordeal began when they struggled to access funeral funds for the deceased, who had died after a long illness
- As they prepared to leave, police officers arrived and asked them to accompany them to the police station, where they were locked up
A grieving family from Melville in KwaDukuza say they endured the agony of a “double death” after desperation drove them to leave their loved one’s body inside a bank branch to prove she had died.
Source: UGC
IOL reports that the Maliwa family said the ordeal began when they struggled to access funeral funds for Elizabeth Maliwa, who had died after a long illness.
Why Maliwa family took body to bank
Despite presenting an official death certificate to Capitec Bank, they allege they were repeatedly asked to provide further proof, leaving them unable to proceed with burial arrangements.
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The delays forced them into an unthinkable position. With mortuary costs mounting and no funds to cover the funeral, the family removed Elizabeth’s body from a private mortuary.
Over the following week, as temperatures rose above 30°C, the remains began to deteriorate. The family explained that they had exhausted every option before deciding to bring Elizabeth’s body to the bank.
A video of the incident, showing family members leaving the covered body inside the branch, quickly spread online. Elizabeth’s daughter, Christinia Maliwa, said the decision came from pure desperation.
“What can you do when you are grieving and need money for the funeral but the bank refuses?” she asked. “They said they would not release funds if there was no proof that the person we say is dead is indeed dead.”
Maliwa family members arrested
She reiterated that the family was confused by the bank’s demands, especially as they had processed funeral claims there before without issue.
According to Christinia, the bank staff uncovered the body to verify the death. Shortly afterwards, the claim was processed, and the funds were deposited while the family was still inside the branch.
For a brief moment, relief replaced anguish. But the reprieve was short-lived. As the family prepared to leave, police officers arrived and asked them to accompany them to the police station.
Believing it was a routine matter, Christinia’s sisters agreed. Instead, they were arrested.
“When they asked why, the officer said they had ‘violated a corpse,” Christinia said. “We just wondered whose corpse it was that we were being arrested for violating.”
Double death
Elizabeth’s body was transferred to the police mortuary, and the sisters were released the following day. When the family later retrieved the remains, they were horrified by what they saw.
Christinia said the body had decomposed severely, with visible signs of neglect. Because of the advanced state of decomposition, they chose not to view or handle the body again.
Instead, it was transported directly from the mortuary to the cemetery. For the Maliwa family, the experience has left wounds deeper than grief alone.
What should have been a dignified farewell became a traumatic struggle, one that forced them to confront bureaucracy, arrest and decay while mourning a mother, sister and relative they loved.
“We lost her once,” Christinia said quietly. “But everything that followed made it feel like we lost her all over again.”
Man abandons dad’s body in morgue
Meanwhile, 43-year-old Zakhele Cindi recently disclosed that his father’s body has been lying in a government mortuary since the beginning of January, and that he has no intention of claiming it.
His refusal, he explains, is rooted in a painful past. Cindi says his father abandoned him during childhood and failed to register his birth.
Born at home and never issued with official documents, he grew up without the paperwork that unlocks schooling, employment and access to basic services.
The absence of an identity document has shaped his entire adult life.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
