Brinek: Family stunned as father was buried without prior notice in a pauper’s grave

Family stunned as father was buried without prior notice in a pauper’s grave

ORF-Series "Bürgeranwalt" („Advocate for People“) – Broadcast of 31 October 2009

On 1 May 2009 Mr. M. found the body of his father after the fire brigade forced the door to his apartment open. As a third party negligence could not be excluded the Public Attorney’s Office demanded an autopsy which was performed on 7 May 2009. On the same day the death certificate was issued and the body released for burial. A communication of 15 May 2009 shows that the body of Mr. M.’s father was stored at the Pathology Department within the Faculty of Medicine with a note stating that relatives had not been informed as they were unknown. On 12 June 2009 the deceased was buried at the central cemetery of Vienna in a pauper’s grave.

In the meantime Mr. M. was busy arranging his father’s burial in the family grave located at a cemetery in Lower Austria and repeatedly tried to obtain information on the autopsy proceedings without any success. He was therefore stunned when he learned that his father had already been buried in a pauper’s grave and that he was asked in addition to cover the expenses of 2.400 Euro.

According to Ombudswoman Brinek this is a classic case of maladministration as none of the authorities involved felt the need to inform the relatives about the release of the body. Ombudswoman Brinek cannot accept that authorities did not take any initiative to trace and inform the relatives of the deceased. She therefore calls for increased communication in the future and demands financial support for Mr. M. and his family by the respective authorities.

Follow-up: Exhumation of an „unwanted“ body

The Austrian Ombudsman Board had previously dealt with a case in which an „unwanted“ body had been buried in a gravesite owned by the complainant. The Viennese cemeteries were very cooperative in order to solve this problem: They exhumed the body and provided another gravesite for its burial. Ombudswoman Brinek is pleased about the outcome of this case and thanks the authorities for their immediate action. She recommended once again that relatives should clarify the authorised access to their family gravesites in order to avoid any comparable problems.