Nabarangpur: Tension prevailed in a village in Nabarangpur district after local residents allegedly refused to allow the cremation of a woman at the village cremation ground following her religious conversion, with her body remaining uncremated for around 30 hours, officials said.
The deceased, identified as 50-year-old Gagiri Gond of Odandi village under Kacharapara-3 panchayat in Raighar block, died at around 4 pm on Monday. Gagiri, who had lost her husband Mang Gond a few years ago, was living with her three daughters and a son. Her family had reportedly converted from their original religion to another faith a few years ago.
After her death, relatives and friends gathered at the village and began preparations to perform her last rites at the local cremation ground. However, some villagers allegedly objected to the cremation on the ground that Gagiri had converted to another religion. An argument broke out between the two groups and later turned into a physical altercation.
As the dispute remained unresolved, local Additional Tehsildar Shivani Naik, Papadahandi SDPO Surajit Kandel and Umerkote police station IIC Jugal Sabar visited the village on Tuesday morning and tried to pacify both sides.
The villagers, however, reportedly remained firm in their opposition to the cremation at the village ground. The body remained uncremated for over 30 hours as efforts to resolve the dispute continued.
With tension persisting in Odandi, police have deployed one platoon of force in the village to prevent any untoward incident, officials said.
