A man who lived with an 800-year-old mummy was detained in Peru

Police in Peru have seized mummified remains between 600 and 800 years old from a man who claimed to be his girlfriend, ScienceAlert reports. The mummy was discovered while patrolling a park in the Peruvian city of Puno, famous for its archaeological finds. Wrapped in bandages, the remains lay in the fetal position in a cooler bag belonging to 26-year–old Julio Cesar Bermejo.

A former food delivery man, Bermejo told the police that this is his "spiritual girlfriend", he sleeps with her and takes care of her. According to Bermejo, the mummy appeared at their home 30 or 40 years ago: the body was brought by his father, who bought it for 2,000 Peruvian sols in the hope of reselling it to the museum. However, the attempt failed, and since then "Juanita" has been living with him.

According to the Ministry of Culture of Peru, the mummy belongs to the pre-Hispanic era and is a "mummified adult male." "It's not Juanita, it's Juan," the ministry's specialist confirmed, adding that the mummy belonged to a man who was at least 45 years old at the time of death. The remains are well preserved: they probably belong to the period when embalming flourished in the region.

According to Bermejo, he brought the mummy with him in a cooler bag to the park not because he wanted to sell it, but because "my friends wanted to see it." The Ministry of Culture stated that the remains were seized "in order to protect and preserve the heritage."

Puno is located near the Atacama Desert along the western coast of Chile and Peru. This is an area characterized by extreme aridity, thanks to which human remains and objects of art and everyday life from thousands of years ago have been preserved here.