MIRI: The remains of a suspected illegal immigrant from Indonesia who died of illness at the Bekenu immigration detention centre was cremated on Tuesday after no one came forward to claim her body.
The final rites for Ani who had told authorities that she is 17 and a Christian from Kalimantan were conducted by the Urban Ministry Emmanuel Unit (UMEU) of St Columba parish at the Persatuan Ghee Sam crematorium in Riam.
Her funeral was carried out after no next-of-kin came forward to claim the body despite a final appeal by the Miri City Caring Society (MCCS) last week after earlier efforts by the Malaysian authorities had proved unsuccessful .
Checks by the Indonesian Consulate with the local authorities had also failed to verify Ani’s claims to prove she was an Indonesian national.
A casket was prepared for Ani who died on June 8 and the final prayers and cremation were witnessed by Immigration Department officers.
“Her ashes will be placed in an urn and kept in the columbarium at Riam and we are grateful to Ah Min Funeral Parlour and EMEU for helping to bring closure to the late Ani despite not knowing her,” said MCCS.
MCCS is a non-profit charitable organisation and welcomes donations to support its charitable activities aimed at helping the less fortunate and needy here.
The association has also helped in resolving cases of unclaimed bodies at Miri hospital, including that of a baby kept at the mortuary for one year and four months in 2015.
