NONGPOH: In an incident that triggered a fresh rift, a woman, who had died recently, was denied burial at the Cemetery of Presbyterian Church Umran Dairy in Ri Bhoi prompting the family members to bury the body in a plot of land they own in the village.
Earlier, a similar case was reported in which a newborn was refused burial at the cemetery due to differences between two factions of the Church led by GT Lyngdoh and P Mynsong, respectively.
That matter was sorted out following the intervention of a magistrate and police and the burial was finally allowed.
Skilda Lyngdoh, who died on August 23, was however denied burial as the two factions failed to overcome their differences.
The family of the deceased alleged that village leaders of Umran were partial during the death of their mother as village criers (pyrta shnong) were not allowed to go about their task.
However, headman Lambor Bina and village secretary Dibansing Warjri, had a different take on the matter. They claimed that the village criers did not partake in the final rites as they felt it could trigger clashes between supporters of the two Church factions.
The village leaders also informed that the two factions have been at loggerheads for the last six years.
A case over ownership of the Cemetery is pending with the KHADC Court.
With the case pending in the court, the village leaders approached the BDO of Umsning C&RD Block who referred the matter to the Ri Bhoi deputy commissioner.
“In order to solve the differences between the two Church factions, we had organised a meeting in the village on August 24, but to no avail. However, we made an offer to the family to bury the deceased at the village Cemetery but the family informed us that that they would perform the burial in their own land”, the village leaders said.