A dispute over the burial of a tribal man who had converted to Christianity has led villagers in Gajigaon, Rayagada district, to seek a separate government-allotted cemetery for the area’s Christian residents.
Jakaka Dam, a 65-year-old tribal man belonging to the Pentecostal Beersheba Church of God, had been unwell for several months and passed away at his home in Gajigaon around 7 am on Thursday, July 2. He had embraced Christianity four to five years earlier, according to most accounts.
Following his death, Dam’s family sought permission to bury him at the village’s common cremation ground, in keeping with Christian rites. Villagers objected, saying the ground was reserved exclusively for the tribal community’s traditional funeral customs, under which the dead are cremated and not buried. Some villagers said allowing a burial on that ground would go against local custom and anger the village deity, Jhangidi Devi.
With no resolution in sight, Dam’s body remained at his home for close to a day. Under local custom, households in the village do not light their kitchen fires until a deceased resident’s funeral rites are over, so many families reportedly went without a cooked meal through the standoff.
Villagers gathered for a meeting to try and settle the matter, but it broke up without an agreement. The local sarpanch, Ranjit Huika, along with district administration officials, police personnel from Warakhal police station and social workers, eventually stepped in to mediate. Dam was finally laid to rest on Friday, July 3, roughly 24 to 27 hours after his death. He was buried on his family’s agricultural land, though at least one account placed the burial on a nearby government plot instead.
Dam’s wife, Male Jakaka, and his sons Surya Jakaka, Sundar Rao Jakaka and Monoj Jakaka, were present at the burial, along with other relatives and villagers.
Sarpanch Huika said, “There is a provision for burial of Christians at a special place as per tribal tradition. Dam had converted to Christianity seven to eight years back. This is the reason the villagers insisted on the burial being done elsewhere.”
Rayagada Sub-Divisional Police Officer Gaurahari Sahu confirmed that no criminal case was registered in the matter. “The matter came to our notice after reports surfaced, and police visited the village. However, no complaint has been received from either side. Since the issue was resolved amicably through discussions between the family and the villagers, no case has been registered,” Sahu said.
Pastor Pramod Guru, president of the Rayagada Pastors Association, described the resolution in similar terms. “The issue was amicably resolved following the intervention of the local sarpanch. Dam was finally laid to rest on his family’s agricultural land. Pastor Jitendra Bag performed the burial rites in accordance with our traditions, and he was given a peaceful burial. The village sarpanch assured us that a place would soon be earmarked for members of the Christian community,” Guru said.
The matter did not end with the burial. According to UCA News, church leaders and village representatives, including sarpanch Huika, went on to press for government land to be set aside for Christian burials in Gajigaon. On July 7, a delegation of eight village leaders, two of them village council members, went along with two pastors to meet Nakalo Chandra Behera, the tehsildar of the sub-district, and put in the request for land. “Behera has agreed to depute a land inspector to visit Gajigam and locate a suitable piece of land for the purpose,” Guru told UCA News. Huika could not attend that meeting owing to an official engagement.
Guru also told UCA News that Huika had urged the Christian families not to file a police complaint over the initial refusal of burial, while assuring them of a separate burial ground.
Pastor Jeetendra Bagh of the Pentecostal Beersheba Church of God told UCA News that Gajigaon is a tribal village with only about five Christian families, all of tribal origin, who had faced no difficulties over their faith until the dispute over Dam’s burial.
No formal police complaint had been lodged by either the family or the villagers in the days immediately following the burial.
