Cemeteries refuse Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body

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The uncle of the slain Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev has arrived in Massachusetts to arrange for his nephew’s burial, as the funeral director struggled to find a cemetery in the state willing to take the body.

Ruslan Tsarni arrived with three of his friends and prepared to wash and shroud his nephew’s body according to Muslim tradition. The 26-year-old suspect died after a gun battle with police on 19 April. Peter Stefan, the funeral director, said he hasn’t been able to find a cemetery in Massachusetts willing to take the body. He said he plans to ask the city of Cambridge, where Mr Tsarnaev lived, to provide a burial plot, and if Cambridge turns him down, he will seek help from state officials.

Robert Healy, Cambridge’s city manager, said in a statement on Sunday that he is urging Tsarnaev’s family and the funeral director who has the body not to request a burial permit for the city-owned Cambridge Cemetery.

He said the city “would be adversely impacted by the turmoil, protests, and widespread media presence at such an interment” and that the families who have loved ones interred at the cemetery also deserve to have their deceased family members rest in peace. Mr Healey said other federal agencies should take the lead in the burial.

AP