Koraput: Days after some members of the Christian community alleged harassment during a prayer meeting in the church in Kapena village of Nabarangpur district, a fresh controversy surfaced over the burial of a teenage boy in the village.A 15-year-old Christian boy, who was suffering from kidney ailment, died on Friday. Family members alleged that when they went to bury him in the village burial ground in the night, they were stopped from accessing the ground. The were also prevented from conducting the boy’s last rites on their own registered (patta) land, the family claimed. According to the bereaved family, some villagers also insisted that they either renounce their faith or leave the village.Pallab Lima, national president of Rastriya Christian Morcha, condemned the incident, calling the denial of burial rights unconstitutional and inhuman.“It is deeply unfortunate that tensions arise in certain parts of Nabarangpur district whenever a Christian death occurs. Such repeated incidents weaken constitutional values and disturb social harmony,” Lima said.Amid mounting concern, senior district officials led by sub-collector Prakash Kumar Mishra visited Kapena village and held discussions with village leaders and community representatives. On Saturday night, villagers agreed to allow the burial on the family’s patta land.“The issue was settled following prompt intervention by the administration. As a precautionary measure, adequate police force has been deployed in the village to avoid any untoward incident,” Nabarangpur district collector Maheswar Swain told TOI.The development comes close on the heels of the Jan 25 incident when residents claimed a group of people entered the church around 9 am, objected to the prayers and warned nearly 30 tribal Christian families to give up their faith. When they objected, the miscreants allegedly locked the church from outside and forced everyone to leave.Following the incident, the district administration held a peace meeting involving both groups in a bid to resolve the situation. But the burial dispute casts a fresh shadow on the peace efforts.Lima alleged that vested interests were provoking villagers, leading to repeated confrontations. He urged the state govt to put in place a permanent administrative mechanism to safeguard the rights and dignity of minority communities.Meanwhile, Odisha Adivasi Adhikar Mancho (OAAM) called upon the district administration to establish community burial grounds in villages to prevent similar disputes in future.“The administration must take necessary steps to ensure peaceful coexistence in villages, otherwise similar situations may arise elsewhere,” said OAAM secretary Rajesh Jani.The district collector said tehsildars have been instructed to identify suitable land for community burial grounds in villages where such facilities do not exist.“We have directed the tehsildars to identify land, and a review meeting on the matter will be held soon,” Swain added.In the meantime, the administration has appealed to both communities to maintain peace. Police presence in the village has been intensified as a preventive measure even as officials continue dialogue with both sides to ensure normalcy is restored, the collector said.
