Two churches torched, several injured as burial dispute triggers violence in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker
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Violence erupted in Amabeda village of Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district on Thursday after tensions over a disputed burial escalated.
It left several people injured, leading to the torching of two churches and damage to multiple properties.
The unrest began in Bade Tewda gram panchayat, around 150 km south of Raipur, following the burial of 70-year-old Chamraran Salam on private land owned by his family. Salam, who died on December 15 while undergoing treatment, was the father of local sarpanch Rajman Salam.
Police said a section of villagers objected to the burial, alleging it was conducted secretly and did not follow traditional tribal customs. Some residents claimed the sarpanch had converted to Christianity and accused the family of performing Christian burial rites, triggering protests.
The United Christian Forum alleged that a large mob incited villagers by claiming that, under the PESA Act, they had the right to exhume the body, asserting that the land belonged to a local deity and that a Christian burial was therefore impermissible.
Acting on complaints, an Executive Magistrate ordered the exhumation of the body on Thursday. Police said the remains would be sent for post-mortem examination, and an investigation is underway. “Legal action will be taken based on the findings,” Kanker police said, confirming that property damage occurred during the clashes.
The situation, tense since Wednesday, worsened into stone-pelting between groups. Around 20 police personnel, including Additional Superintendent of Police (Antagarh) Ahish Banchhor, and several villagers were injured. Police resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the crowd and restore order.
District officials later facilitated talks between both sides, following which the body was exhumed and removed from the village, as many locals opposed allowing a burial site there. Additional Collector Anjor Singh Paikra said that while the sarpanch was believed by some villagers to have converted to Christianity, his father had remained a Hindu.
“The sarpanch reportedly performed last rites in accordance with Christian beliefs, which led to strong protests from villagers,” Paikra said.
The Chhattisgarh Christian Forum alleged that at least two churches were set on fire and houses belonging to members of the Christian minority were attacked during what it described as a riot-like situation. District authorities said officials have been stationed in Bade Tewda for the past two days to prevent further escalation, and the injured have been admitted to the hospital. The situation is now under control.
The United Christian Forum recorded 23 burial-related incidents in 2025, with 19 in Chhattisgarh, two in Jharkhand, and one each in Odisha and West Bengal. This follows around 40 such cases reported in 2024, including 30 in Chhattisgarh.
A recent report cited by the forum said Christians are increasingly being denied burial rights on ancestral land, creating fear among families and pastors. Many villages lack designated Christian burial grounds, while historically shared graveyards are increasingly treated as Hindu-only spaces.
The National Coordinator of the United Christian Forum said it is becoming “increasingly dangerous for Christians to practise their faith” in India, alleging that claims of forceful conversions are misleading and unsupported by court convictions.
The forum urged the Chhattisgarh and Odisha governments to implement time-bound compensation and rehabilitation plans for affected families, ensure accountability of officials who fail to prevent violence, and mandate religiously neutral common graveyards in every gram panchayat. It also called for the appointment of district-level nodal officers to ensure police protection during funerals where tensions are anticipated.
