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What to do when a person dies at home in Indonesia?

First published: 16 January 2021 @ 4:15 pm

If a person dies at home, the family must contact the doctor. The doctor will do the death certificate (HSP) and take the body to the hospital or morgue for autopsy. If a person dies at home and no doctor is present, the family can do:

The death certificate (HSP) (see page 26). Clean the body. Put on white clothes for women or white clothes and white cap for men. Keep the body in a coffin made of strong wood or iron. Then take it to any hospital or morgue in Jakarta for autopsy (see page 47).

If a person dies in hospital, relatives may decide whether to bury or cremate his/her body. If he/she has been following Islam, make sure that he/she has been given namaaz-e janaza first, then bury him/her.

The ceremony can be organized by relatives themselves if they have not appointed an imam beforehand; otherwise they should ask an imam to do it:

Ask the hospital to take the body to the morgue for a day or two. Contact the imam in your neighbourhood. The imam will arrange a place for prayer and make sure that the namaaz-e janaza is properly performed.

Burying is usually done on Friday afternoon, but it can be done on other days as well. Cremation is usually done on Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

If you do not want to cremate, take the body from hospital to bury immediately after death (there is an extra charge of Rp 100,000 for doing this).

The cost of namaaz-e janaza and burial service varies according to how much money you spend on food, flowers etc: it may be as little as Rp 3 million (about $300) or more than Rp 10 million ($1000).

If you decide not to cremate or bury, you may have other ceremonies after one month when his/her soul will rest in peace.

If a person dies in a private hospital, the doctor or hospital will arrange for the death certificate (HSP) and take care of the body. The family will pay for his/her treatment.

Death by accident or suicide:

If a person dies because of an accident or suicide, the police must be called immediately. The police will do the death certificate (HSP). If you want to bury him/her in a Muslim cemetery, you must send a letter from the police to your local government office.

They will give you permission if you can prove that he/she was practicing Islam. Then bury him/her as soon as possible after getting permission from your local government office.

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