A grief-stricken widow from central Quang Nam province slept on his wife’s grave for over a year before deciding that they would both be better off indoors and in the bed they shared when they were married.
But before that he dug a tunnel into her grave in order to avoid the rain and cold while he embarked on his nightly ritual of “sleeping with her”.
Neighbors and local authorities discovered what he was doing and persuaded him to discontinue the habit.
But within a year he was back at it again. This time he exhumed his wife’s body, covered it in plaster and clay and moved her back to his bedroom, where she has stayed for the past five years.
Le Van, 55, who lives at home with his three children and his wife’s corpse was described by one neighbor as “a normal and well-behaved man,” dressed the body in clothes and kept it in his bed since 2004.
Van told Lao Dong newspaper that for the first two after he brought his wife back home, his neighbors refused to visit him. But since then, most have grown more accustomed to the idea and are no longer afraid to pay the odd courtesy call.
His youngest son, a sixth-grader, usually hugs the corpse of his mother before retiring for the night.
“My wife’s body only passed away but her spirit still accompanies us,” Van said. “I have no fear when it comes to sleeping with her at all.”
But unfortunately for Van, a law passed last year states that all bodies must be either cremated or buried to be in compliance with sanitation laws.
The decree also bans burials in residential gardens unless an individual case is approved by the People’s Committee at the provincial level.
Authorities in Ha Lam Town said an inspection into the bizarre case will get underway soon.
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