Ruslan Tsarni, the uncle of Boston Marathon bombing suspects Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, began the process of arranging Tamerlan’s funeral this Sunday. Tsarni, who has expressed disappointment in his nephews, was the closest next of kin to Tamerlan, who was killed in a standoff with police several weeks ago.
Tsarni, who lives in Montgomery Village, Maryland, drove up to Worcester late last week in order to claim the remains of his nephew from the office of the state’s medical examiner. Once he took possession of Tsarnaev’s body, he spoke with funeral director Peter Stefan in Worcester and began to prepare the body for burial according to Muslim rites.
The Huffington Post reports that Stefan has been unable to find a cemetery in Massachusetts that will accept Tsarnaev’s body, and that he has plans to ask the city of Cambridge to provide a burial plot.
Cambridge City Manager Robert Healy released a statement saying that there has been no application for a burial plot from Tsarnaev’s family, and urges them not to request one. “The difficult and stressful efforts of the citizens of the City of Cambridge to return to a peaceful life would be adversely impacted by the turmoil, protests, and wide spread media presence at such an internment.” He asked federal agencies to take the lead in the burial.
According to Islam, a body must be buried after certain rites are performed. Since Tsarnaev and his family are Muslims, the issue of where Tsarnaev will ultimately be buried is not one that can be resolved with a cremation. Tsarni told reporters that he would like his nephew to be buried in Massachusetts, the state in which he lived his last decade.
“I do understand no one wants to associate their names with such evil events,” said Tsarni. “We take an oath to do this. Can I pick and choose? No. Can I separate the sins from the sinners? No. We are burying a dead body. That’s what we do.”
Demonstrators have gathered outside of Stefan’s funeral home to protest his facilitation of Tsarnaev’s funeral. Many of the demonstrators have asked that he not be buried on American soil.
The state’s medical examiner released their report on Tsarnaev, and ruled that he died from gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to his head and torso. Authorities say that Dzhokhar ran over his older brother with a car in a frenzied attempt to escape from police.
Where do you think Tamerlan Tsarnaev should be buried? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.