I am a living ghost,” Reliu said in a phone interview on Friday morning.
After more than 20 years of working as a cook in Turkey, the 63-year-old returned home to Romania to discover that his wife had had him officially registered as dead.I am officially dead, although I’m alive,” he said. “I have no income and because I am listed as dead, I can’t do anything.”
During the interview, Reliu was deeply emotional, starting off by saying “I think I am going to cry” and going on to voice rage and a desire for revenge against his wife, who now lives in Italy.
“I am not sure whether I am divorced or not,” he said. “I am not sure whether she is married to someone else or not. Nobody will tell me.”
Reliu explained that he first went to work in Turkey in 1992 and returned in 1995 to the first big shock of his marriage — his wife’s infidelity. In 1999, he decided to return to Turkey for good.
He has since been living a legalistic nightmare of trying to prove to authorities that he is, in fact, alive. He faced a major setback Thursday when a court in the northeastern city of Vaslui refused to overturn his death certificate because his request was filed “too late.”The decision, the court said, is final.I am officially dead, although I’m alive,” he said. “I have no income and because I am listed as dead, I can’t do anything.”
During the interview, Reliu was deeply emotional, starting off by saying “I think I am going to cry” and going on to voice rage and a desire for revenge against his wife, who now lives in Italy.
“I am not sure whether I am divorced or not,” he said. “I am not sure whether she is married to someone else or not. Nobody will tell me.”
Reliu explained that he first went to work in Turkey in 1992 and returned in 1995 to the first big shock of his marriage — his wife’s infidelity. In 1999, he decided to return to Turkey for good.