By Osahon Ibizugbe

An Indonesian man, who claimed to be the world’s oldest human has died. Saparman Sodimejo, popularly known as Mbah Gotho, had papers that showed he was born in December 1870.

Going by this record, he would have been the longest living human ever. However, his claim could not be independently verified because Indonesia only started recording births in 1900.

Local reports indicate that he was taken to hospital in April due to deteriorating health. However, he insisted on being discharged after six days in hospital and passed away soon afterwards.

In an interview with the BBC, his grandson Suryanto said: “Since he came back from the hospital, he only ate spoonfuls of porridge and drank very little. It only lasted a couple of days. From that moment on to his death, he refused to eat and drink.”

Suryanto said Sodimedjo was buried on Monday, April 1 at a local cemetery. He added: “He didn’t ask much. Before he died, he just wanted us, his family, to let him go.”  Sodimedjo outlived all his children, his four wives and 10 siblings. Had his claim been verified, he would have been older than Jeanne Calment of France, who was considered the longest living human ever when she died aged 122.