Man cremates wife after living with her coffin for nearly 21-years

A 72-year-old man in Thailand recently cremated his wife after living with her remains for more than two decades. According to news reports, Charn Janwatchakal finally bade farewell to his wife on April 30 — 21-years after she died.

A video shared on Facebook showed Mr Janwatchakal assisting Bangkok Foundation staff in taking his wife’s coffin outside his home. He had reportedly kept his spouse’s body next to him in a small room where he slept and spoke to her pretending she was still alive.

According to reports, the charity workers retrieved the rotten coffin from the dingy space, surrounded by plastic bags and other rubbish. No legal actions have been taken against the man as he had registered his wife’s death with officials.

Mr Janwatchakal’s partner died from a congenital disease in 2001. He was said to have reached out to the Foundation “seeking help with cremation rituals as he feared his dead wife would not get a proper ceremony in the event of his death.

Mr Janwatchakal is well educated and had earned several degrees. But his home remained without electricity and was said to be in a poor condition.

The 72-year-old revealed that he used to live with his wife and two sons, however, his sons decided to move out of the house as they were not comfortable with their father’s decision to keep the corpse on the property. — ndtv.com