Five Chinese nationals have been fined US$200 each by a Zimbabwean court after they were convicted of unlawful cremation of a body without consent from his relatives.
As reported by ZimLive, Chen Ying, 44, Xia Wexing, 40, Guo Weilin, 32, Yan Qi, 36 and Wang Huasheng, aged 35, were convicted at their own plea of guilt after admitting they cremated one Huang Tian Song’s body.
Hung died on May 22 this year at Trauma Centre, Harare.
The five Chinese nationals appeared before Harare magistrate Ruth Moyo charged with contravening Section 17 of the Burial and Cremation Act, alternatively making false declaration and misrepresentation for cremation.
In passing the sentence, the magistrate considered that the five “did not waste the court’s time and were quick to plead.”
Prosecuting, Nomsa Kangara said that on May 22, a Chinese national, Huang Tian Song died at the Trauma Centre in Borrowdale, Harare.
The five, acting in common purpose, took the body to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals for a post-mortem.
They then visited the Registrar General’s Office to acquire a burial order on 22 May 2024. Said Kangara:
After obtaining the burial order, the accused, connived and produced a false document in the form of an affidavit in Ying’s name purporting to have been granted permission by the deceased’s relatives and caused the body of the deceased to be cremated by Monson Funeral Parlour.
The court ordered the five to pay the fine by June 7 or risk three months imprisonment.
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