KUALA LUMPUR: Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail will personally compensate the cremation expenses by the family who almost cremated the wrong body.
He said he would help resolve the matter in less than 48 hours from today.
"I will pay for the compensation myself. It's no issue. Please tell the family, we can even deliver (the money) tomorrow.
"It is unfair to them, because it is not their child who passed away. They come from a poor family, spending RM20,000 is a lot of money."
He said this in response to M. Kulasegaran (Pakatan Harapan-Ipoh Barat) who had asked if the minister would be providing any form of compensation to the affected family.
Kulasegaran, who is also former human resources minister, had urged for a separate investigation into the death of the prison inmate.
The body of 18-year-old Grepprall Sall, who died in Sungai Buloh prison on March 2, was mistakenly handed over to another family in Tampin, Negri Sembilan.
The family was about to begin the cremation when they received a telephone call from the Prisons Department telling them that their son, whom they thought was dead and was about to be cremated, was still alive.
They also informed that their son was actually still in the department's custody in Sungai Buloh prison, and the body that they had was actually that of their son's prison cell mate.
Grepprall's family were finally allowed to bring his remains home on March 6.
ENDS/