This is what happens if you don't have enough faith.
A CANADIAN family has admitted to leaving the dead body of a man upstairs for six months, believing their prayers would resurrect him.
It has been revealed that Kaling Wald left her husband Peter to rot in an upstairs bedroom, truly expecting that their faith in God would make him rise from the dead.
Mrs Wald, 50, has pleaded guilty to failing to notify authorities that her husband had died due to a sickness that was not being treated by a doctor, The Hamilton Spectator reports.
Assistant crown attorney Janet Booy argued that Mrs Wald had no ill intent, but rather her belief in God had “tainted and warped her better judgment”.
“We were trusting God … we thought, ‘OK Lord, you know better’,” Mrs Wald told The Spectator outside court yesterday.
Mr Wald died about March 20 after contracting a foot infection as a result of his diabetes. He refused to see a doctor because he believed God would cure him.
He fell into a coma, his stomach began to bloat and his forehead started to show signs of rigor mortis.
Mrs Wald covered the body with two blankets, put a beanie on his head, padlocked the bedroom door and sealed the door and vents to mask the smell of the decomposing body.
The corpse was found six months later. It was so rotten that it had attracted rodents and was unable to be identified.
However, the prosecutor acknowledged that Mrs Wald had no criminal intent.
“It’s an extremely sad case … she truly believed her husband was going to be resurrected from the dead, even after six months,” Ms Booy said.
Mrs Wald received a suspended sentence, was put on 18 months’ probation and was ordered to seek counselling.
“This is not about your religious beliefs. It is about your safety, the safety of your children and the safety of the community at large,” Superior Court Justice Marjoh Agro told Mrs Wald.
Mrs Wald lived in the house with five of their six children, aged 11 to 22, and seven other adult friends. The family was known for spreading its religious beliefs throughout the area.
“It was unusual, yes. It was certainly not normal,” Mrs Wald told The Hamilton Spectator. “And we won’t do that again … laws exist and we know that now.”
This is the first case of its kind known of in Canada.