The residents of the ground floor privately built a cemetery in the skywell. Photo by reporter Tushichao of Xinmin Evening News. [Xinmin Evening News] The residents of the ground floor buried their parents' urns in the skywell and erected a tombstone, which made the surrounding neighbors feel "scared". Last night, Ms. Zhou, a reader, sent a text message to our newspaper's tip-off platform at 02152928686. She said that the neighbors living upstairs dared not look down into the skywell from the balcony, as it left a shadow on their minds.
A Tombstone in the Skywell
Last night, the reporter rushed to Baolin Eight Villages in Baoshan District. Entering a resident's home upstairs and opening the balcony window to look down, I saw a double tombstone standing in the skywell of the ground floor. Below the tombstone, two electronic candles were lit, emitting dim "candlelight." The tombstone was one meter high and half a meter wide, with black characters inscribed on it, bearing the names of the deceased father and mother.
The neighbors revealed that the father of the ground-floor resident passed away three years ago, and the mother last year. The tombstone was erected after this year's Qingming Festival. The neighbors were unaware beforehand and were greatly shocked when they saw the tombstone later. The neighborhood committee and property management had kindly advised against it, but the resident continued to act as they pleased.
It was understood that the reason for the resident doing this might be due to economic difficulties, wanting to save on cemetery fees.
Neighbors Deeply Troubled
After the cemetery was "built," the surrounding neighbors were deeply troubled. There used to be a female college student living upstairs who was so scared that she rarely went home on weekends thereafter. Even when she was home, she would tightly draw the curtains on her balcony. More distressing was that the ground-floor resident would occasionally play mournful music, the sorrowful tunes making the neighbors feel chilled to the bone. Some wanted to rent housing elsewhere, while others planned to simply sell their house and buy another one somewhere else. Some even worried about what would happen every year during the Qingming and Winter Solstice festivals if the resident were to light incense, burn paper money, or set off firecrackers in the "skywell cemetery."
"A perfectly good residential area now feels like a cemetery, leaving an odd feeling in my heart. This kind of life is really unpleasant," the neighbors complained. The residents had reported the matter to relevant departments, but the problem remained unresolved for a long time.
Self-built Cemetery is Illegal
According to the relevant regulations on funeral management in our city, building tombs and erecting tombstones outside public cemeteries is prohibited, and private individuals are not allowed to build cemeteries. Such behavior by the ground-floor resident has clearly violated the law.
The residents hope that relevant departments can join forces, enforce the law humanely, and proactively conduct ideological work with the resident, persuading them to relocate the cemetery and restore a normal living environment for everyone. (Reporters Tushichao and Wang Qinjian of Xinmin Evening News) Welcome to post comments. I want to comment. Weibo recommendation | Today's Weibo hot topics (Editor: SN056)