24-year-old mortician speaks on rituals performed before tending to the dead

Ewurabena Quartey, a 24-year-old mortician and hearse driver, has shared a rare glimpse into the rituals and ethics that guide her work in the ‘funeral industry’, explaining why mortuary staff knock before entering rooms where bodies are kept.

Speaking to BBC Pidgin News via a video shared on X on June 15, 2026, she claimed the practice is rooted in maintaining dignity for the dead, even though they are no longer alive to respond.

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“In Ghana, we have this culture where you knock before you enter somebody’s house. Before you enter, you knock, and there’s a response. But when we knock on the doors in the mortuary, it’s not to get a response, no. We know they are not alive. We know they are not active, but we knock on it to demonstrate our respect to them,” she explained, adding that the deceased must still be treated with courtesy.

According to Quartey, that respect does not end with death, stating that those who have passed once had families and lives that deserve recognition.

“They had wives; they were once living. We don’t have to throw away their respect because they are dead. We still maintain their respect. Even if you trip on them, you say sorry. There are things you do when you are bathing them, or when you are tending them, or when accidentally you leave them, you still say sorry because you have to treat them as such,” she said.

“There are times and seasons where I get more than five bodies in a week. And there are times too, even a whole month, you might not see anybody there. The job is seasonal,” she added.

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She further disclosed the unpredictable nature of her work, noting that there are days she gets more bodies to handle and there are days she doesn’t encounter any dead bodies at all.

Watch the video below:

‘Why we knock before we enter dead body room’

—24-year-old lady, Ewurabena Quartey, a mortician and hearse driver pic.twitter.com/6T5Y8WOorg

— Ozor Ndi Ozor (@OzorNdiOzor) June 15, 2026