RESIDENTS of Pela-Tšoeu in Menkhoaneng, Leribe were this week left shaken and fuming after the community council in that area exhumed a body that had been buried in the courtyard of one of the villagers.

This was after the High Court ordered the family of the deceased to exhume the body and re-bury it at a designated public cemetery.

According to the chairperson of the Menkhoaneng community council, ’Mathapelo Lenkhoa, a bulldozer had to dig out the corpse after the neighbours refused to use their spades, saying it was taboo to tamper with the dead like that.

She said the Local Government Amendment Act 2010, forbids the burial of the dead in residential sites, adding that the family of the deceased was duly warned about this prior to the funeral.

“But the family chose not to comply and went ahead to bury the deceased in their courtyard, that is why the council approached the High Court.

"The exhumation was done under immense tension with the villagers openly showing their disapproval by insulting people who dug out the body,” Mrs Lenkhoa said.

One of the villagers told Metro that digging up the bones of dead people is against Sesotho culture.

“Our custom forbids the act lest it disturbs the afterlife. We believe moving a dead person’s remains unsettles their spirit and brings bad luck to the family,” the man said.

In 2014, the Maseru City Council (MCC) exhumed the body of 80-year-old Adelina Tau of Motimposo from a church backyard where it had been buried for two weeks, arguing its interment posed health hazards to the community.