Woman too broke to bury husband

JAKARTA (JP): A 45-year-old destitute housewife of five handed over her husband's remains to the state-owned Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital on Tuesday night for burial.

Emmy, a resident of Kampung Peninggaran, South Jakarta, said yesterday she did not have enough money to hold the burial service for her husband, Rustam, let alone buy a plot in the cemetery.

"I have asked my relatives for financial support, but they are just as broke," she said after submitting a letter to the hospital administration from her neighborhood chief confirming she was destitute.

She said Rustam's body was in an advanced stage of decomposition when it was found Tuesday afternoon in his bedroom after neighbors complained of a foul odor.

Emmy said she was working as a housemaid when the body was discovered. Only her five-year-old daughter was at home.

"My husband had suffered from diabetes for five years. Two years ago one of his legs was amputated. He had been jobless since and spent the rest of his life in his bedroom."

Emmy said she did not know the cause of her husband's death. But she added that Rustam asked her for insecticide several days before his death.

"I don't know whether the liquid was used for killing the mosquitoes or to commit suicide," she said.

A morgue official, Mardiyono, said the hospital accepted Emmy's request. (ivy)