'This is non-negotiable': Malaysian woman wants thief to return stolen urn containing her father's ashes

Over 50 urns have been stolen from columbaria across Johor in the past month, leaving grieving families in the lurch.

A woman, who wanted to be known as JC, told Malaysian publication the New Straits Times (NST) that her family has been in distress ever since the urn containing her father's ashes were stolen from Perpetual Memorial Park in Kulai, Johor.

Her father died five months ago and his urn was among 22 stolen early this month.

"We cannot accept what has happened," she said, adding that she and her brother have made efforts to gather the affected families and meet the memorial park's management and the investigating officer to follow up on the case.

"All we want is for the ashes to be returned safely and intact. This is non-negotiable," she said.

Suspected criminal links, insider involvement

The thefts are believed to be part of a cross-border criminal group holding the ashes of the dead for ransom, reported Malaysian media.

The missing urns at Perpetual Memorial Park in Kulai were the first to be reported, followed by those at Xiao En Memorial Park that had over 30 urns stolen in late February.

Nilai police chief superintendent Johari Yahya said the Xiao En management had received a WhatsApp message from a foreign number with a ransom demand for the return of the missing urns, reported NST.

Funeral services provider Nirvana Asia Group released a statement on March 19 saying that its facilities had been targeted, though it did not reveal details about the timing, location or number of urns that had been stolen.

It also did not reveal if a ransom was paid for the return of the urns.

Lee Koon Lam, chairman of the Federation of Chinese Cemetery Associations Malaysia, was quoted as saying by NST that the thefts appear to be an inside job.

"It is not easy to remove urns from a columbarium. There are locks, access points and controlled movement involved," he said, adding that it would be difficult to pull off such acts without the help of staff working there.

The cases are under investigation by Malaysia's Federal Criminal Investigation Department.

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dana.leong@asiaone.com