South African corpse fails to rise again

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African police are going to court to demand the burial of a 77-year-old man who has been dead seven weeks despite his family saying a "prophet" had foretold his resurrection, police say.


Free State resident Paul Meintjes's body was returned to his family late last week after the local mortuary refused to store it any longer. The body was kept in his widow's room for three days before officials said it was a health risk and ordered it returned to the mortuary.


"The body is OK -- it is still recognisable," said police spokesman Captain Sam Makhele in Bloemfontein. "But after a few days out of the fridge the smell was not OK."


The police hoped a magistrate would decide soon, but it was not clear if the family would oppose the move, he said.


Meintjes died on July 1 but has been in South African newspaper headlines ever since, with his family at loggerheads with other members of their small farming community over his anticipated resurrection.


Police had no dealings with the Durban-based "prophet" and could give no more details about him, he said. South African media has named him as a former bank manager who has since gone to ground.