Mayor opposes man's bid to be in dead body exhibition -- Slack Chat

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Subject: Mayor opposes man's bid to be in dead body exhibition

Author:
Dave

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Date Posted: 07:12:54 01/21/02 Mon

Mayor opposes man's bid to be in dead body exhibition

A Belgian man's last wish is to have his body donated to an exhibition featuring 28 human corpses.

But the mayor of Erpe-Mere says he will oppose the move if Francis De Pauw dies during his term in office.

Mr De Pauw, who is 69 and in good health, is now consulting a solicitor.

Het Nieuwsblad reports he has been to see K�rperwelten, or Bodyworld, three times. It features embalmed dead bodies cut open to show what's inside.

He says having his body preserved and included in the exhibition would help save on funeral costs.

But he told the paper: "I like the idea of hundreds of thousands of people seeing my dead body. I'm very enthusiastic about the exhibition. I returned three times to see it. It's overwhelmingly beautiful."

He says his family are not against the idea and he's prepared to sign a contract with the exhibition's German creator, Gunther von Hagens.

But mayor Etienne Lepage says he will oppose the contract in case Mr De Pauw dies during his term in office.

He said: "I can't give permission. According to the law every death must be followed by a certificate of burial or cremation. Even when the body is donated to a university for scientific purposes, the remains are buried in the end. The law doesn't say anything about keeping the body."

In October, a judge in Belgium allowed the exhibition to go ahead at an Anderlecht abattoir after a butcher complained it was bad for business.

Story filed: 12:12 Monday 21st January 2002

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