Covid-positive Christian priest buried at last - in another parish

Thiruvananthapuram, June 4 Two days after a 76-year-old Christian priest, who was Covid-19 positive, died in the Kerala capital, his body was finally buried in a church cemetery on Thursday evening.

Following strong protests from the locals on Wednesday, the funeral was postponed and finally after lot of talks, the body was buried at the cemetery of a different parish of the Syrian Orthodox Church than the cemetery of the church to which he belonged.

The priest, admitted at the Medical College hospital here after a road accident, underwent surgery but passed away on Tuesday. He was subsequently found to be Covid positive.

On Wednesday, locals had argued that there was a stay from a court with regards to the burial in the cemetery as there is a problem in the water quality in the wells in the locality and hence, the priest could not be buried there.