The death of a 70-year-old woman, discovered mummified on her chair more than two years after her death, caused shock waves this week in Italy, reigniting the debate on the loneliness of the elderly.
Read alsoAlert on the phenomenon of the “
lonely death
” of the elderly
Marinella Beretta, who had no living relatives, was found on Friday February 4 in her house in Prestino, near Lake Como, in Lombardy (north).
Her neighbors had not seen her for at least two and a half years, according to media reports.
His mummified remains were discovered by the police, who came to the scene after being alerted to the risk of falling trees in his garden.
"
What happened to Marinella Beretta in Como, the loneliness of oblivion, hurts our consciences
," Family Minister Elena Bonetti reacted on Facebook on Monday.
“
A community that wants to stay united has a duty to remember its life.
We must stop limiting horizons to the private sphere and start taking care of the bonds between us again (...) No one must be left alone
”.
In Italy, almost 40% of people over 75 live alone, according to a 2018 report by the National Institute of Statistics (Istat). The same percentage of people have no relatives or friends to turn to. if needed.
Marinella Beretta was "
loneliness incarnate
wrote columnist Massimo Gramellini on the front page of Corriere della Sera, Italy's best-selling daily, on Tuesday.
“
Many of us still have memories of large families in rural Italy.
Instead, the modern family is reduced (...) People die alone.
And we live alone, which is almost worse
.”
Neighbors of Marinella Beretta, who had not seen her since September 2019, thought she had moved away at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, which hit Italy in early 2020. Police found nothing on the spot that could suggest a suspicious death.
The Municipality of Prestino should pay the burial costs.
“
The mystery of Marinella's invisible life behind the closed gate of her house teaches us a terrible lesson.
The real sadness is not that others didn't notice his death.
It's that they didn't realize that she was alive
, ”said the Roman daily Il Messaggero.
