A woman from Joinville, north of Santa Catarina, was surprised to visit her mother’s grave and saw that a stranger was buried in the family grave. Now she must receive compensation jointly from the city administration and the company that manages and maintains the cemeteries.

The incident happened in 2016 – Photo: Gabriela Milanesi/ND

According to the decision of the Court (TJSC), the woman should receive 2,500 reais, an amount to be updated, as compensation for non-pecuniary damage.

The incident happened in July 2016. When visiting her mother’s grave, the woman noticed that another person was buried in the same place. She reported the problem to the cemetery administrators, who acknowledged that the procedure was flawed.

According to the documents, the remains of the author’s mother, buried in a shallow grave, were not damaged, while the body of another person was placed in an urn built on top of the first site. Even when the urn was removed, the bones were preserved under the concrete structure.

Judge Anna Finke Suszek understood that this act was damaging to the family members’ right to identity, given the anguish associated with the momentary loss of a tangible symbol of her deceased mother’s memory. The amount of compensation is aimed at mitigating the suffering caused to the victim, the judge said.