The parents of a young woman killed by a truck in Naxxar almost eight years ago did not have their rights breached when their daughter was buried in a plastic bag behind their backs, a constitutional court has ruled.

Madam Justice Anna Felice ruled against arguments by Josephine and Salvatore Boni that their daughter Johanna was subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment when she was buried in a body bag rather than decently dressed in the clothes they had provided.

The court ruled that although unfortunate, the parents had not suffered any breach of their human rights.

The case was filed against the Mater Dei Hospital chief executive, the health minister, the state advocate and funeral undertaker Anna Falzon.

Johanna Boni died when she was dragged by a cement mixer on Labour Avenue on January 5, 2016.

She was riding her Kawasaki ER6N motorcycle to work. The driver of the truck, 53-year-old Carmel Cauchi, was charged with involuntary homicide and was recently cleared of the charge following a drawn-out criminal case. The decision was appealed by the Attorney General and is still pending.

Three years after the fatality that turned their lives upside down, the Bonis, who lived in Sicily, got another horrific shock when, in January last year, they discovered Johanna had been buried in a body bag placed inside the coffin.

The parents only discovered this by chance, prior to the burial of her grandfather, who was to be interred in the same grave at the Mosta cemetery. The red dress they had purchased for their daughter, a necklace, and a pair of shoes had been placed in the corners of the coffin.

The parents told the court that their daughter had sustained serious head injuries, but the rest of her body was intact. They had engaged Falzon to handle the funeral arrangements and provided her with clothes in which Johanna was to be buried.

On the day of the funeral, Falzon advised them not to look inside the coffin since Johanna’s head injuries were a traumatising sight. They trusted her and took her advice.

However, the court noted testimonies by the undertaker and several workers at the Mater Dei mortuary that the body was not in a state to enable them to dress, so Boni was wrapped in a sheet and then placed in a body bag. The clothes, shoes and necklace were placed on top of the body bag before the coffin was closed.

While expressing sympathy for the family's loss and their desire to have Johanna dressed in the chosen clothes, Madam Justice Felice noted that the severe nature of the injuries made it impossible to dress the body.

She observed that the family was not informed about this “to spare them further pain” but ruled that this did not amount to a breach of rights. The court also denied their request for their daughter to be given a decent burial.