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Yeukai Karengezeka Court Correspondent
Five Chinese nationals who cremated a body of their colleague without his family’s consent have been fined US$200 each.
Chen Ying (44), Xia Wexing( 40), Guo Weilin (32), Yan Qi ( 36) and Wang Huasheng( 35) appeared before Harare Magistrate, Ms Ruth Moyo.
They were charged with contravening Section 17 of the Burial and Cremation Act.
The accused were represented by lawyer Ms Tendai Rusinahama.
They were convicted on their own plea of guilt and were ordered to pay the fine by June 7 or spend three months in jail.
In passing the sentence, Ms Moyo considered that the five are first time offenders who did not waste the court’s time as they pleaded guilty.
Prosecutor Ms Nomsa Kangara told the court that on May 20, 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 moterm.
They then visited the Registrar General’s Office to acquire a burial order on 22 May, 2024.
After obtaining the burial order, the accused connived and produced a false document in Ying’s name purporting to have been granted permission by the deceased’s relatives to cremate his body at Monson Funeral Parlour.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter