- Court ordered the hospital to release the burial permit to woman's son and her brother-in-law
- Ngugi says she was the legal wife of the deceased, Paul Mwangi, having solemnized their marriage in 1990
A Nairobi widow has moved to court seeking to have the head of Mama Lucy Hospital cited for contempt for refusing to release the burial permit of her husband.
Veronicah Ngugi claims that despite a court order directing the hospital to release the burial permit to her son Anthony Njoroge and her brother-in-law Bernard Ngunyi, the hospital has failed to comply.
The mother of three whose husband died in October 2019 wants a warrant of arrest issued against the medical superintendent for disobeying the court order which was issued on December 9, 2019.
The 50- year- old woman moved to court last year following the death of her husband and after the burial permit was issued to a woman who was allegedly cohabiting with the deceased.
Ngugi says she was the legal wife of the deceased, Paul Mwangi, having solemnized their marriage in 1990 and were blessed with three children.
In October and December last year, the court directed Mama Lucy Hospital to cancel the burial permit issued to the other woman, Jennifer Njoki, and issue another one to Ngugi’s son and her brother-in-law so that Kenyatta University Mortuary could release his body for burial.
The court also ruled that Ngugi and her children be allowed to take part in the burial process as the wife and the children of the deceased.
The burial permit after the funeral was to be released to the chief of Soweto location to assist and arbitrate the issue in the family.
Ngugi however accuse the medical superintendent of failing to obey the order, occasioning her and her children great turmoil.
“The burial permit was released to the said medical superintendent for cancellation as ordered by the court but he has refused and failed to comply,” she says in court documents.
Ngugi wants the court to compel the said medical superintendent to cater for mortuary expenses at the rate of Sh1,000 per day from the date the order was served upon.
“The medical superintendent has been the main obstacle in the interment of the deceased. The deceased children continue to suffer emotionally as well as psychologically as a result of the delayed funeral,” she says.