UMERKOTE: A tense situation arose in Malbeda village under Raighar block over the burial of a deceased person on Thursday, after the villagers forced the family to exhume the body.
According to sources, the villagers were protesting against the burial of the deceased Ishwar Gond (18) in the village as the family had converted to another religion. The villagers ordered the family to bury the deceased in a graveyard instead of the village.
However, police rushed to the spot and stopped the exhumation. A resolution was reached on Friday morning when the family members decided to return to their original religion, restoring normalcy in the village.
According to the police, Ishwar of the village had gone to Maharashtra last year to work as a bonded labourer. He died on Tuesday and his body arrived in the village on Thursday following which the family started preparations for the final rites.
However, since the family had converted to another religion, a meeting was convened to decide the proper place for his burial. Before a decision could be reached, the family members dug a hole in their village land and performed the last rites, which sparked protests from the villagers. As tensions escalated, the family began to exhume the body.
Upon receiving the news, a police platoon led by Umerkote SDPO Subhendu Shabar, Raighar IIC Raghunath Majhi and Raighar tehsildar Ritu Singh arrived in the village to restore order.
The police stopped the exhumation process around midnight leaving the body partially exposed throughout the night.
Following the meeting on Friday morning where the family members agreed to return to their original religion, the last rites will now be performed in accordance to customs, police added.