Thrissur: St Thomas Church at Engandiyur in Thrissur and the members of a Christian family under it have entered into a dispute following the claims of latter that they had booked in advance a burial space for their mother in the church cemetery.
The dispute has invited public attention because of its similarities with the recent controversial decision of the Jacobite parish at Attamangalam near in Kumarakom, to refuse permission to bury the maternal grandmother of Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, at the church cemetery.
While the objection to the burial of Priyanka’s grandmother was due to disputes over her families allegiance to belief systems of the church, the dispute in Thrisssur (formerly Trichur) is over the payment of fees to the burial space.
According to the members Purathoor Kittan family they had booked a space near the tomb of their father Benny who died on April 4, 1972.
“Our mother Thankamma Benny had then expressed the desire that she must also be buried next to his tomb, and that is why we had booked a space next to her husband’s tomb about 40 years back, after paying the required amount to the Church,” said her son Jojius Benny Kittan.
Jojius said his sister Sheeba was also buried in the church cemetery after her death on October 1, 1967. He claimed the family have lost the receipt and the church authorities have refused to issue a duplicate saying they did not have any records, The Times of India reported.
He said his mother who is now 84 and is ailing now, and the doctors have informed the family her condition is serious. “Anything may happen to her anytime, and her last wish may remain unfulfilled if the church authorities remain adamant,” Jojius said.
According to him the church authorities were now demanding that the family can get a permanent tomb only after paying the fresh fees which is about 150,000 rupees.
When contacted the Thrissur archdiocese authorities said the claims of the family were totally wrong. “We have checked the records and there was no proof for their claims. If we conceded this claim we will be opening the floodgates of litigation because others may also come up with similar claims without any proof,” a spokesman for the Archdiocese said.
He said archdiocese has informed the family that they can bury their mother in the church cemetery just like others, even though they had migrated from Engandiyur. But this will be permitted if they bring a letter of consent from the priest of the parish where they are staying now. If they wanted a permanent tomb they will have to pay the regular fees, the spokesman said.