Mumbai, Mar. 26, 2019: Christians from Mumbai, India are demanding more burial grounds ahead of the national election set to start on April 11. According to Mumbai’s Christian leadership, Christians have been forced to pile bodies on top on one another due to overcrowding in already established cemeteries.
Speaking to Reuters, Kasber Augustine, a member of the Bombay Catholic Sabha, said, “We are going to meet the candidates and make a strong pitch for burial grounds.” Speaking about the community’s current struggle with overcrowding, Augustine said, “The community has no option but to bury one body over the other.”
Currently, there are only six public cemeteries in Mumbai. To make use of the limited space, bodies are buried on top on one another and removed from grave sites after about two years once the body is decomposed. The decomposed remains are then moved into smaller vaults, but space in these vaults is also becoming limited.
Previous government have made promises to Mumbai’s Christian population to set up additional burial grounds. Unfortunately, none have kept these promises.
Across India, Christian burials can often spark off instances of persecution. In villages where Christians face persecution, they are often not allowed to bury their deceased loved ones by village leadership. In some cases, Christian bodies have even been dug up by Hindu villagers.
(persecution.org)