8/30/2004

Dead Couple to be Married

"aka Over My Dead Body"

Here is a story of ultimate denial by the couple's family:

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African man who shot hispregnant fiancée dead before killing himself will beposthumously married to her at the weekend.
Police Captain Mohale Ramatseba said David Masenta shot25-year-old Mgwanini Molomo after a quarrel before turning thegun on himself. But Johannesburg's Sowetan newspaper saidfamily and friends wanted to remember them as a happy coupledestined for a happy life together.
The groom's corpse would be dressed in a cream suit and hisbride's in a gown for the ceremony, at which a priest in therural village of Ceres in Limpopo will bless the union beforethe two are buried, the Sowetan said.
"In African culture, there is no death -- there is merelythe separation of body and soul," said cultural expert MatholeMotshekga. "It is also important because the families aremarried together."
"This does not mean the relationship has irretrievablybroken down."