Marinella Beretta: Mummified body of woman, 70, found sitting on chair TWO years after death
The mummified body of a 70-year-old woman was found in a chair at her home in Italy two years after her death, according to multiple reports. The decomposing corpse of Marinella Beretta, who lived by herself in Prestino near Lake Como, was found last Friday, February 4.
The body of the elderly woman was accidentally discovered by police authorities when concerned residents reported that a tree has fallen in Beretta's garden during high winds in Lombardy. The 70-year-old woman had not been seen by neighbors for at least two and a half years, according to Italian media reports.
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Massimo Gramellini, an editorialist wrote Beretta was "loneliness personified" on the front page of the Corriere Della Sera, Italy's biggest-selling daily. The outlet described the elderly woman's body as "mummified" and stated that she was sitting at a table in her home. "Many of us still have memories of the chaotic, branched families of peasant Italy. Instead, the modern family is reduced... People die alone. And we live alone, which is almost worse," Gramellini wrote in his article. The news agency further reported that residents who lived near her house assumed that she moved away when the Covid pandemic first struck the country.
A medical examiner based on her "mummified remains" revealed that the Italian woman had passed away "toward the end of 2019". It is still unclear how the 70-year-old has passed away since the police found nothing at the scene to suggest foul play. Family Minister Elena Bonetti said, "What happened to Marinella Beretta in Como, the forgotten loneliness, hurts our consciences." "We have a duty, as a community that wants to remain united, to remember her life... no one must be left alone," added Bonetti on Facebook.
On Tuesday, Como Mayor Mario Landriscina inviting the city to Beretta's funeral, said, "The local government would take care of the funeral arrangements." He added, "I will try to be there and I invite the city to be present. This is the moment to be together, and even if this woman had no relatives, we could become her relatives."
As per a 2018 report by the national statistics institute (ISTAT), nearly 40 per cent of over 75-year-olds live alone in Italy. The same number also said they had neither relatives nor friends to turn to in case of need.
