'Appalling': Woman horrified after cemetery 'floods' graves hours after burial

A Brisbane woman claims council is disrespecting the dead by “flooding” filled graves.

Doreen Awabdy’s brother and father are buried at Mt Gravatt Cemetery, which is run by Brisbane City Council.

Ms Awabdy told Yahoo7 she’s witnessed workers at the cemetery spike graves – a process, which involves using a hose to pour water into a grave to allow the soil to collapse.

“They use this huge hose with a long steel rod and dig as far down to the grave as possible before flooding it,” she said.

“This pierces the coffin or the casket and is often done straight after burial or days later.

“They flood an entire grave until it collapses before proceeding to pile on more soil.”

Ms Awabdy said other families are also upset by the process but she’s “carrying the torch” and has approached council.

She said she believes her brother and father’s graves have also been spiked leaving her “mortified”.

“Why do we bother burying people with dignity and respect when this happens?” she said.

“It shows a complete lack of respect and provides a high level of humiliation for those souls. Many of us are still grieving.

“It’s appalling council do this.”

Councillor Steve Griffiths told AAP he’s spoken with about 20 distressed families about the grave flooding process.

“If the coffin is not waterproof that water will be going into the coffin … that process is really upsetting for families,” he said.

A Brisbane City Council spokesman said council’s approach is “a best-practice maintenance program at all cemeteries”.

“Maintenance works to stabilise graves and prevent subsidence are similar to those used elsewhere in Australia and internationally,” he said in a statement.

– With AAP