Christians in India’s Odisha denied ‘right to belief, dignified burial’
A fact-finding report documents cases of ‘denial of rights of the deceased’ by Hindu mobs in the eastern state
Updated: May 16, 2025 08:36 AM GMT
A legal rights group on a fact-finding mission in a tribal district of India’s eastern Odisha state has found that aggressive Hindu mobs are denying poor Christians from tribal and Dalit communities the “right to belief and a dignified burial.”
The Odisha Lawyers Forum, in a May 14 report titled: Freedom to Be Buried, A New Struggle for Christians in Odisha, has cited recent cases of “denial of the rights of the deceased” in Nabarangpur district, which they say are a clear violation of the Indian Constitution and laws.
The report details the latest case of a young tribal Christian whose body was exhumed and likely “burnt” by a Hindu mob after pressuring and even physically attacking his family.
Saravan Gond, a 20-year-old Protestant, died in an industrial accident in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) on April 15. His body was taken to his native village, Melbeda, the next day. But a Hindu mob did not allow his family to bury him in the common burial ground “unless they converted to Hinduism,” the report noted.
Saravan’s father, Ramachandra Gond, informed the police and sub-district authorities, but the mob brazenly warned them not to interfere in village matters, saying Christians had no right to be buried in the village.
To avoid confrontation, the family carried out the burial on their own land despite opposition from the mob, who “attacked the mourners” and even “chased, disrobed, and assaulted” women.
A day after, on April 17, the deceased’s family was threatened by a mob of around 150 men in the presence of police and civil authorities, demanding that “they leave Christianity or face death.”
The family members were also forced to sign blank sheets of paper and taken to the burial site, where “they were made to exhume the body under threat to their lives.”
The report details how “the coffin was desecrated and thrown away” as relatives fled, fearing for their lives.
“The family is unaware of what the mob ultimately did with Saravan Gond’s body…. Some people told us that the body was burnt by the mob as per Hindu rituals,” said Father Ajay Singh, a member of the fact-finding team.
Singh, a human rights lawyer, told UCA News on May 15 that a complaint was filed at Raighar police station on April 28 requesting an investigation into the whereabouts of the body.
“However, the police have yet to act on the complaint,” the priest-lawyer said.
In another case, the dead body of Madhu Harijan, 27, a Dalit Christian from Menjar village in Nabarangpur district, was ritually “converted” to Hinduism before his burial was allowed in October 2024.
Singh said it was a painful trade-off for the Christian family when Madhu Harijan’s body was “converted by reciting some prayers and buried according to Hindu rituals.”
The deceased’s family complained to the police and civil authorities, “who remained indifferent, neither intervening effectively nor attempting to pacify the anti-Christian agitators,” the report said.
The family complained to the fact-finding team that the burial lacked dignity, and Christian funeral traditions, including prayers and a final blessing, were denied.
The eight Christian families continue to live in fear in Menjar village, which has 1,227 residents, according to the last national census held in 2011.
In yet another case, the body of Chandra Harijan, a 73-year-old Dalit Christian in Suruguda village in Nabarangpur district, was similarly “converted” to Hinduism before he was buried in the village burial grounds in November 2023.
“Under pressure from the Hindu villagers, the deceased’s wife, Jamuna, reluctantly allowed her husband’s body to be ‘converted’ to Hinduism and buried according to Hindu customs. Jamuna continues to be a Christian privately,” Singh said.
“We are haunted by uncertainty. What will happen when the next person dies?” a Christian villager told the fact-finding team.
The report has documented many such cases between 2022 and 2025, based on testimonies provided by survivors in the villages.
“The Odisha Lawyers Forum found gross violations of fundamental, constitutional and human rights of the most vulnerable communities of Adivasi, Dalit and religious minorities in terms of equality before law, right to freedom of expression, thought, belief and association, more importantly, the right to life and a dignified burial in Nabarangpur district in Odisha,” the report said.
