Rayagada: Following a tense 26-hour delay, a 65-year-old tribal man, who had converted to Christianity, was finally buried on his family’s farmland at Gajigaon village in Odisha’s Rayagada district on Friday.
The private burial took place after local villagers allegedly barred his family from using the community cremation ground.
According to sources, The deceased, identified as Jakaka Dam, had converted to Christianity around four to five years ago. He had been undergoing treatment for an illness for several months and passed away around 8 am on Thursday. His family had planned to perform the last rites according to Christian customs, which involve burial, at the local cremation/burial ground. However, villagers strongly opposed the move, arguing that the ground was reserved exclusively for members of the Hindu tribal community following traditional practices. They maintained that only cremations are permitted there and that burying a Christian would violate local religious traditions and offend the village deity, Jhangidi Devi.
As a result, the body remained at the family home for over a day.
A village meeting was held to resolve the matter, but no immediate solution was reached. The standoff forced the family to forgo the community ground. With no other option available, Jakaka Dam was finally laid to rest on his family’s agricultural farmland, where he had worked for years, according to Christian rites.
Local authorities, including the village Sarpanch, reportedly helped mediate the compromise.
Gajigaon village has approximately 200 families, of which only about four to six tribal families have converted to Christianity in recent years. The deceased is survived by three sons and other relatives.
No formal complaint has so far been lodged with the authorities.
The delay also disrupted normal village life, as local custom prohibits cooking in the village until funeral rites are completed for any deceased resident. Consequently, cooking remained suspended across the village during the standoff, the sources added.
