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Italy. The gravedigger removed the bodies from the graves to speed up new burials. For bribes

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Italy. Port in Trapani, Sicily

Source: Reuters

The gravedigger from Sicily removed the bodies of the dead from the graves of the dead to allow them to hide their next corpses faster. For his actions, the man charged a fee called “Coffee for a gravedigger”. 20 people have already been investigated in this matter, and three local funeral houses were also closed.

Key facts:

  • Southern Italy face the crisis of lack of places in cemeteries.
  • Removing bodies from graves for a bribe was to last for at least a few years.
  • It is not known what happened to the bodies pulled from the graves.

On Monday, the Sicilian police detained two people in Trapani on the west coast of the island. He was a former gravedigger and his assistant, detained as part of the investigation of alleged corruption and bribery since 2023. Men are accused that they illegally removed bodies from the graves to make space for the next corpses faster.

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The investigation in this matter is also pending against 18 other people. In total, three funeral plants have already been banned from conducting business – the police said.

The gravedigger removed the bodies from the graves

The Italian portal tp24.it writes about “scandal at the cemetery”. According to the police, a court pathologist was to help in the procedure, who falsely certified the distribution of corpses, which allowed the burial of subsequent dead in their place. When the gravedigger could not count on the help of a pathologist, he decided on “extraordinary exhumation procedures” and mined bodies from grave niches so that they could be resold – the investigators determined, documenting at least 25 cases of illegal burials. In addition, one of the employees of the funeral home allegedly took valuable items from the bodies of dead, including jewelry.

The authorities claim that delays in burials in this cemetery were everyday life. “People were forced to pay cash for faster burials,” the police said. This fee was commonly called “coffee for a gravedigger”. The police are still determining what happened with the corpse removed. The detained gravedigger was to leave work recently and was currently a hycl (dog catcher) in the city.

There are no places in the cemeteries

The British “Guardian” noted that cemeteries and funeral plants are “often controlled by the mafia” in the regions Italianin which criminal organizations are strongly rooted. Two weeks ago, there was a cemetery watchman from Calabria, he heard a five -year sentence for desecration of the corpse. The man and his son removed various valuables from the graves – reminded the journal.

A serious problem in southern Italy is also a lack of places for burials. The crisis intensified as a result of a pandemic Covid-19. For this reason, the city authorities of the Caltanissetta city in Sicily in 2021 even organized a lottery in which you could win a place at the cemetery.



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