Speaking to the Lusa, the researcher explained that natural mummification has been taking place in recent years, in cemeteries across the country, which forces temporary graves to remain occupied beyond the three years provided for by law, until the possible exhumation of the remains.

“The Law should be revised, as this is a growing problem in Portugal. If the body is mummified, it will hardly decompose, even if it remains in the ground for another two, four or six years,” she said.

Multiple exhumations

According to Ângela Silva Bessa, the investigation that she has been carrying out over the last three years, in cemeteries in Porto, Braga, Figueira da Foz, Mértola and Faro, allowed her to record “cases in which it was the fourth time that they tried to exhume the corpse”.

“The law says that after three years the corpse will be ready to be exhumed and, in the case of temporary graves, they can be reused. However, when cadaveric decomposition does not take place, the burial will have to continue, for successive periods of two years, in which every two years the body is dug up and family members are called to verify its condition”, she said.

The doctoral student looked at cemeteries from all over the country, in order to try to understand whether differences in soils were influencing cadaveric decomposition.

“Soils are very different from north to south of Portugal, but the results are very similar in terms of decomposition. In terms of organic matter too, they are very similar to each other,” she indicated.

Influences

According to Ângela Silva Bessa, it is still not well known what influences human decomposition, although it is believed that this occurs through a set of variables that act on each other.

“Within each cemetery, even in graves next to each other, we have corpses in very different states of decomposition. The soil is the same, so we think that there are also factors intrinsic to the individual, which could be causing this cadaverous preservation”, she admitted.

“We have to understand how we can help accelerate cadaveric decomposition, so that after three or four years the body is then ready for exhumation”, she added.

In her opinion, even if the law were to be amended, in the sense of extending the period from three to five years for exhuming the corpse, “the problem will remain”.

“We would continue with the problem of lack of space in cemeteries, especially in urban centres, where it is not possible to expand the cemeteries or build new ones”, she concluded.