The family of Ishmael Muscat, who was killed in a traffic accident in China last April, are still waiting for the cyclist’s body.

Mr Muscat, who would have turned 32 today, was riding his bicycle when he was run over by a car in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei, where he lived.

Three months on, the family have still not had closure and are waiting for the conclusion of court proceedings that his wife, Xu Mei, initiated against the driver.

His aunt, Catherine Sciberras, said that, although the body was ready to be brought to Malta, his wife was unable to give the go ahead for this to happen because doing so would seem to imply that she was accepting the police report attributing half of the blame for the accident to Mr Muscat.

This would also mean she and his family would lose all rights to claim damages and, furthermore, the family did not believe he merited half the blame.

We do not believe he merited half the blame

The police reached such a conclusion despite a statement by the driver that he was not watching the road when the accident happened because he was looking for something in the car, Ms Sciberras said. The driver admitted that he only realised he had run over a person when he got out of the vehicle.

However, the police are saying that the cyclist tripped up and, therefore, the two had to share the blame.

Available CCTV footage caught him being run over but did not clearly show how he ended up beneath the car, the aunt added.

Three police reports have been issued so far, the latest at the end of June, after Ms Xu appealed.

She has now instituted court proceedings.

She has asked the family to be patient and pledged to accompany the body to Malta once it was released by the Hefei police.

In the meantime, his parents, Monica and Francis, have had no closure and were still in shock, Ms Sciberras said.

“We (the family) feel it’s not fair that a person who killed somebody carries the same blame as the victim, even if he did trip up, which is still a question mark,” she said.

A semi-professional cyclist who also taught business English to Chinese professionals, Mr Muscat moved to China six years ago, relocating to Hefei in early 2012.

His aunt described him as always determined to reach his goals whether it was studies, career, cycling or personal life.