Shocked families of two Covid victims discover strangers were buried in their graves

A cemetery buried new bodies over the graves of Covid victims just days after they were laid to rest, with their families saying they only found out after investigating ‘community whispers’. 

Relatives of Basheer Meghjee – an accountant from Stanmore, north-west London who died last year aged 76 – were left ‘in pieces’ after discovering that another person had been buried in his grave at Woodcock Hill Cemetery in Hertfordshire. 

They warned family members of Mustafa Ibrahim, who lay in the next door plot, that the same could have happened to his resting place, with Mr Ibrahim’s daughter feeling ‘sick’ after these fears were confirmed. 

A general view of Woodcock Hill Cemetery in Hertfordshire, where the double burials took place 

Mr Meghjee’s nephew Monty told the BBC they initially ‘just didn’t believe’ that another body had been buried on top of him but this was confirmed three weeks later they were ‘absolutely horrified’. 

The cemetery’s leaseholders said the family agreed to the two-tier burial and the actions of officials have been defended by a High Court judge. 

Mr Meghjee was buried in the Muslim section of Woodcock Hill Cemetery on March 27 but 12 days later his grave was reopened and a stranger placed on top of him. 

The family said they heard rumours about what had happened before officials confirmed them three weeks later. 

After a visit to the grave last spring, the family became suspicious that the same thing could have happened to the neighbouring plot belonging to Mustafa Ibrahim, who lived in Watford and died on April 5 at the age of 72.  

They left a note which was picked up by Mr Ibrahim’s daughter, Yugel, who also said she had no idea her father’s grave contained a second body. 

‘I find it hard coming to my dad’s grave knowing, with no disrespect, there’s another man on top of him.’

The cemetery is run by Three Rivers District Council but the Muslim section is leased to BW Foundation, a charity linked to the Salaam Centre, a community centre in Harrow.

The foundation enacted a two-tier burial policy on March 16, which families had to consent to. This was ended in August after it was clear there was enough space to meet demand. 

The Meghjee family launched a legal challenge to have their relative exhumed and stop the two-tier policy, but a High Court ruled against them, saying they had signed a consent form and the BW Foundation behaved ‘properly and with sensitivity throughout’.  

BW Foundation said it had ‘entered in dialogue with an Islamic jurisprudential’ to ensure the two-tier system was compatible with religious law and took ‘extra care in advising family members and the local mosque of this change’. 

The cemetery is run by Three Rivers District Council but the Muslim section is leased to BW Foundation, a charity linked to the Salaam Centre, a community centre in Harrow. File pic 

There has been intense controversy about Covid restrictions on funerals which has seen the number of mourners capped to 30. 

The 30-person cap on mourners attending funerals will be lifted in a fortnight, following a campaign by the Daily Mail.

In what was described as a ‘huge victory for common sense’, families will no longer be forced to arbitrarily cut the number of people who can say their final farewell to a loved one.

The number of mourners allowed to attend a funeral from May 17 will be determined by how many can be safely accommodated with social distancing. It means an estimated 50,000 grieving families will not be forced to limit the numbers to 30.

Families may also be able to hug at funerals from May 17, subject to a review on social distancing.

Campaigners said the Government had done ‘exactly the right thing’ by amending the roadmap to allow the relaxation on numbers to go ahead five weeks earlier than planned.

MailOnline has contacted BW Foundation and Three Rivers District Council for comment.