The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Chhattisgarh government regarding a Christian pastor’s body that has remained in a mortuary since 7 January, after villagers and local authorities prevented his burial in his home village.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma expressed shock upon learning that the deceased’s body has been kept at the district hospital and medical college mortuary in Jagdalpur for nearly two weeks, with no action taken by the authorities.
“Leave the village panchayat, even the high court has passed a strange order. What is the state government doing?” the bench remarked while hearing the case.
The matter came to light through a petition filed by Ramesh Baghel, represented by Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, who has been unable to perform his father’s last rites in their village of Chhindawada. According to the petition, when Baghel attempted to bury his father in the village graveyard’s Christian section, where his aunt Shanti Baghel and grandfather Lakheshwar Baghel were previously interred, villagers strongly opposed the burial and threatened violence.
The objecting villagers, identified as Tundul, Shankar, Sukhram, Deviram, Mahesh, Vinod and Mangtu (husband of the incumbent Sarpanch), threatened dire consequences if the burial proceeded.
The situation escalated to the point where 30-35 police personnel were deployed to the village. However, instead of facilitating the burial, the police allegedly pressured the family to remove the body from the village and threatened legal action if they proceeded with Christian burial rites.
Baghel initially sought relief from the Chhattisgarh High Court. On 9 January, Justice Bibhu Datta Guru dismissed his plea, citing a certificate from the village sarpanch that stated there were no separate burial grounds for Christians in the village. The High Court suggested that the burial could take place in Karkapal village, located 20-25 kilometres away, where a Christian burial ground exists.
The High Court’s order noted that permitting the burial in Chhindawada “may cause unrest and disharmony in the public at large.”
The deceased, Subhash Baghel, had served as a pastor since 1986-87, leading prayers at the village church. According to court records, Chhindawada village has a population of 2000-2500, with approximately 750 individuals belonging to the Mahra community and about 200-250 Christian residents.
Writing for The Leaflet, Advocate Ajay Kumar, who practices before the Karnataka High Court, criticised the High Court’s decision: “When the common graveyard clearly has been used to bury Christians in the past in the designated area, the certificate from the gram panchayat would amount to the gram panchayat changing the status quo.”
Kumar further noted that “the police, instead of protecting the petitioner here, threatened him with legal action and pressured him to give up his rights. Yes, there was a violent incident, but that does not mean the state abdicates its duty to ensure the protection of fundamental rights.”
According to the petition, the village graveyard has traditionally been divided informally by the gram panchayat into separate areas for different communities, including tribals, Hindus, and Christians. The villagers have not only opposed burial in the community graveyard but have also prevented the family from using their private land for burial.
“They have also threatened that if the dead body is buried as per Christian rites in their village, they will take legal action against the petitioner and his family,” the plea stated.
The Supreme Court will hear the matter on 20 January, with Mr. Prashant Singh accepting notice for the respondents.
“This is not the first time that Christians have been treated this way," said Salim Hakku, a Christian leader from Jagdalpur. "On December 29, 2024, when a 90-year-old Christian woman was buried on private property in village Bade Bodal, district Bastar, the village headman objected to the burial and verbally abused the Christians, leading to a scuffle between the headman's supporters and the Christian community."
With high hopes from the pending Supreme Court decision regarding Pastor Baghel's burial, Hakku said, "We are hopeful that this will bring relief to the Christian community and we will be able to put our dead to rest peacefully."
