GERMAN – A woman and her daughter were stopped in an airport after customs officers found a dead man in their luggage. The pair were transporting the skeleton of their dead husband and dad after he died in 2008.

They put his bones inside a box in their suitcase in a bid to return him home to Armenia.

The women, aged 74 and 52, were travelling from Greece to Yerevan with a stopover in Munich when German authorities made the unusual discovery.

Customs officials, a doctor, and prosecutors were called in, and they determined no crime had been committed according to report by The Mirror.

The mother and daughter, who were not named in reports, were able to produce official documents relating to their relative’s remains so were allowed to carry on their journey to Armenia.

It is not known why the women waited 12 years to return the man to his homeland but he had been buried in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Death and honoring the afterlife is a very important event. Traditionally in Armenian culture, the funeral takes place three days after the passing of a person. Burial is most common since the Armenian Apostolic Church doesn’t approve of cremation. Many families also include a photo of the deceased on their gravestone.

The movement of the father to Armenian is likely out of honour to him and at times, it could be the last wish which must be fulfilled by the family.