Amid Property Row, 80-Yr-Old’s Body Kept in Freezer Without Rites

Suryapet: The body of an 80-year-old woman, Vemu Lakshmamma, was kept in a mortuary freezer box at her family's residence in Kandulavarigudem, Nereducharla mandal, for two days following her demise, as her family quarrelled over property and did not conduct her funeral rites.

Lakshmamma, who had been living with her younger daughter in Nereducharla for two years, passed away on Tuesday night. A week earlier, she had sustained a head injury after slipping in the bathroom, leading to her getting hospitalised in Miryalaguda. Her condition deteriorated and the doctors advised her family to take Lakshmamma home. However, differences erupted when her son insisted on relocating her to his house in Kandulavarigudem.

Lakshmamma passed away in the ambulance amidst arguments between her son and daughters. Subsequently, discussions regarding the division of Lakshmamma's assets, including cash and gold ornaments, ensued among family members.

According to her relatives, Lakshmamma had Rs 20 lakh cash of which Rs 6 lakh was spent on her treatment. Her younger daughter said that she gave the remaining Rs 14 lakh to her brother after her mother’s death. As per the agreement, her three daughters equally shared 20 tolas of gold ornaments.

Her son's insistence on settling the property dispute before conducting funeral rites led to her daughters abandoning the body at his residence and departing for their respective homes.

The son alleged that Lakshmamma possessed property documents worth Rs 50 lakh apart from Rs 50 lakh in cash, which he claimed she had taken to her younger daughter's house. He said 1 acre of land on which he cultivated crops was also in his mother’s possession. Amidst these contentious circumstances, the body remained in the freezer box for two days until intervention from village elders forced the family to conduct funeral rites on Friday evening.