Hospital Horror: 2 Arrested For Stealing Dead Bodies In Shocking Funeral Scam

Two individuals are currently in police custody in Mbarara District, western Uganda, facing accusations of stealing deceased bodies from Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH). The MRRH spokesperson, Mr. Halson Kagure, disclosed on Thursday that despite the standard protocol of conducting postmortems for individuals who pass away at the facility, the arrested men, along with their associates, allegedly engaged in the unlawful act of taking bodies and delivering them to relatives for a fee without undergoing autopsy procedures.

Kagure emphasized, “If someone passes away here, the proper procedure is to take the body to the mortuary for a postmortem. However, we received information that certain individuals, when faced with the loss of their relatives, would come and remove the bodies without following the necessary mortuary procedures.”

According to Kagure, the suspects have admitted to being strategically placed at the health facility by funeral service companies based in the city. Their primary role was to pilfer bodies and connect grieving relatives with these funeral service companies, earning a commission for each transaction.

“They have confessed that their employers deploy them here, and after taking the bodies, they receive a commission of Shs200,000 for each body. They persuade the deceased’s relatives that the hospital imposes excessive fees for postmortem and mortuary services, which is untrue as these services are provided free of charge,” stated Kagure.

The Rwizi regional police spokesperson, ASP Samson Kasasira, indicated that the detained suspects, currently held at Mbarara Central police, are employees of two funeral service establishments in Mbarara City. He suggested that these individuals may be part of a larger network responsible for the theft of deceased bodies from the regional referral hospital and other government health facilities.

Pending the completion of investigations, the suspects are expected to face charges of trespass in court, according to the police.