Maori woman takes mother's body

A New Zealand woman has snatched her mother's body from a hearse, sparking a bitter family row over what kind of funeral the 76-year-old should have.

Ivy May Ngahooro died on Friday and her will expressed a desire to be buried with "Anglican involvement".

But her estranged daughter wanted a Maori ceremony, so grabbed the body as it was due to be buried on Wednesday.

But attempts to conduct a Maori burial have been blocked by a court injunction taken out by Mrs Ngahooro's niece.

Mrs Ngahooro, who was of European descent but married a Maori man, now lies in a Maori ceremonial area while attempts to solve the dispute continue.

Trish Scoble, who is Mrs Ngahooro's niece and the executor of her will, described how the body was taken just as it was going to be buried.

"They took the casket out of the hearse [and] chucked it in the back of an Isuzu - that's just no ceremony whatsoever - and pulled away," she told TV station TVNZ.

Police 'powerless'

Ms Scoble said Mrs Ngahooro's daughter, named in local media as Joanne Bennett, had not seen her mother for many years.

Ms Bennett told the Waikato Times she was not interested in "all that negativity" coming from the other side of her family.

Police spokesman Jon Neilson told TVNZ they had limited legal power to intervene as body-snatching was not against the law.

"Unless there is a valid court order issued to the family, either stopping the body from being taken or giving police the right to get one that has been taken, there is nothing we can do."

Analysts say clashes over where people are buried are not uncommon in Maori society - especially when the family includes both Maori members and people of European descent.