‘Dead’ man resurfaces 38 days after his funeral

A man who was reportedly buried 38 days ago has shocked family members and the neighborhood by resurfacing for two days for his final funeral rites, known as ‘duwa’ in the Muslim religion.

Ashraf Bamusungwire, 24, was declared dead in late September in a fatal accident in Migyera in Nakasongola District, where he had reportedly gone for temporary work; His relatives organized an ambulance to return his body, buried him and were now preparing for his duwa when he reappeared on Friday.

Accompanied by his sister, Bamusungwire was sprinkled with traditional water in a gourd, raw coffee berries, two goats and a lamb. Prayers were said by the area imam and later by the clan head before he was handed over to his mother, Monica Nangobi, who shot him to her with tears of joy.
“A good friend of his called us and said he had been beaten to death; So we got an ambulance, sold some of his land for fuel and other funeral arrangements, picked up the body and buried it in our ancestral cemetery,” the mother said.

It is now more likely that the family buried the wrong person, as the only distinguishing feature used to identify their loved one was circumcision, as the face and other body features were unrecognizable after the crash.
“The deceased was identified by circumcision because the face was badly damaged,” Nangobi added.

Asked about the possibly mistaken body buried in their cemetery, Rashid Kipwapwa, the clan leader, said: “It was Allah’s wish to find a fellow Muslim and bury him rather than leave him to rot there. We will treat him as a brother in Islam until he is claimed by his family members.”

He added: “Allah has sent us this body and we believe and say, ‘Muslim is a brother of another Muslim’, so we adhered to Allah’s wish and buried a Muslim brother. It is a test of our Islamic faith when it comes to sacrificing to give a brother Muslim a decent burial.”