A WINDHOEK family was last week subjected to anguish when a woman from the north tried to steal a corpse from a city hospital morgue.

The woman, Selma Kalenga, who claims to be a funeral undertaker from Ondangwa failed to take away the corpse because the hospital required the deceased woman’s husband’s signature.
The dead woman, originally from the north was married to a man who stayed in Windhoek where her parents also live while some brothers, sisters and aunts are still in the north.
Kalenga, who was questioned by the family on Monday during Informanté’s presence, denied working alone saying she had been sent by some of the dead woman’s family members in the north to collect the body.
She could not, however, say who exactly had sent her to steal the corpse and for what purposes.
The hearse driver hired from Otjiwarongo also confirmed that Kalenga had told him they were bringing a coffin to Windhoek from Ondangwa to get a corpse.
“Selma (Kalenga) said we were only going to have a memorial service in Windhoek and then drive back to the North for the actual burial,” the driver confessed.
The deceased’s husband and her mother said there was no such agreement because they had already decided to bury the deceased in Windhoek.
The husband said Kalenga, who owns Kalenga Funeral Services in Ondangwa, brought a white coffin from the North for the burial but he did not like it.
“My wife never liked white clothes. Why would I bury her in a white coffin while knowing so?” He asked.
Kalenga, who allegedly told the family she was the driver’s boss, took control of the funeral’s preparations and had the deceased’s husband deposit N$3,800 into her cheque account for a new coffin.
When the family and Kalenga went to Avbob Head Office in the Northern Industry on Friday, they could not get a new coffin because the company refused a cheque payment.
On Saturday, the day of the funeral, Kalenga had still not bought a coffin claiming she was waiting for the bank to open in order to cash the cheque when, in fact, she had sent the hearse driver to Central Hospital to prepare the body and use the white coffin.
The family went to Avbob to get another coffin but was shocked to discover that Kalenga had booked four more coffins on the deceased’s husband’s account.
Avbob Regional Manager, Eslon Namuandi confirmed that Kalenga was at their head office where she booked five coffins but said one can only buy on wholesale from the head office.
“One can only buy three or more coffins from the head office otherwise you’ll have to approach our smaller branches who sell on retail,” Namuandi said.
The family said they suspected Kalenga had ordered five coffins to cover up for the stolen body at various roadblocks on her way back to the North.
“She wanted to tell officers at the roadblocks that she had come to Windhoek to buy coffins when instead she was carrying a stolen body,” the deceased’s husband said.
After family members took over preparations from Kalenga, they managed to bury the deceased at around 16h00 on Saturday.
“As a family friend, Selma put our family name to shame. My wife deserved a decent burial,” the husband lamented.