The parents of a young woman who was crushed to death by a truck in Naxxar four years ago and then buried in a plastic bag have started fresh legal proceedings claiming a breach of their own and their daughter’s human rights.

In an application before the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction, Josephine and Salvatore Boni insisted that their daughter 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 case was filed against the Mater Dei Hospital chief executive, the health minister, the state advocate and funeral undertaker Anna Falzon.

Their 27-year-old daughter, Johanna, was crushed to death by a cement mixer in Labour Avenue on January 5, 2016.

She was riding her Kawasaki ER6N motorcycle to work. The driver of the left-hand drive truck was charged with involuntary homicide and is pleading not guilty in a drawn-out criminal case that is still pending.

Three years after the fatality that turned their lives upside down, the Bonis, who live 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 were placed in the corners of the coffin.

In the application, the parents explained 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.

They said that, on the day of the funeral, January 9, 2016, Falzon advised them not to look inside the coffin since their daughter’s injuries were a traumatising sight.

They trusted her and took her advice. It was only three years later they found out she was buried in a plastic body bag and only by coincidence, they added.

Through their lawyers, Michele Cardinali and Herman Mula, they argued that the undertaker had deceived them and that the other authorities were responsible for failing to ensure that their daughter is given a decent burial.

They insisted their daughter had been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment and their right to private and family life had been breached, both human rights protected by the European Convention of Human Rights. They produced a raft of case law to back their arguments.

The Bonis also argued that their daughter’s and their right to practise their religion, as protected by the constitution, had also been breached.

“The burial of any person conducted in accordance with the Roman Catholic religion shall be one that reflects the same worship and respect for the corpse as that which was given to the dead body of our Lord Jesus Christ and, in this case, this was not done.

“On the contrary, it was quite the opposite where [the daughter’s] body was completely disrespected,” the parents said in their application.

They called on the court to declare that the burial of their daughter was in breach of their human rights and to order the authorities to ensure that their daughter is given a proper, dignified burial, apart from compensating them for the damages suffered.