The deceased, 47 year old Charles Malata, died in a road accident on Thursday.

A local leader told Zodiak Online that the family wanted to bury the relatiion in Zomba but had only a Nissan X-Trail vehicle to carry the body, which did not amuse community members, including local leaders.

The development did not go down well with members of the bereaved family, as one if them, was presumably rude.

This led to a misunderstanding between the community members and the bereaved family.

Block leaders Mdayamba described the bereaved family's behavior as strange and worrying.

"We tried to reason with them to find a better vehicle, noting that the vehicle was too small and it would carry only the coffin and one person," he said adding "We have been fighting over this since Thursday. As community leaders, we are not happy".

A member of the community, Queen Banda, said chaos erupted following some rude remarks made by one of the members of the bereaved family.

"Some elders approached and reasoned with them. They wanted to respect the widow's wish to remain behind following this unfortunate arrangement. But one of them who had been uncooperative since Thursday made rude remarks which were overheard by those around us. That's why they descended on him and beat him up," explained Banda.

Charles Malaya hailed from Mayaka in Zomba.

Meanwhile, local leaders arranged to bury Malata's body in Lilongwe but the bereaved family managed to leave with the body without the notice of the majority community members.