Religious extremists have reportedly forced a Christian woman’s funeral to be held under Hindu rites in Trincomalee, as caste and religious tensions continue in the region.
According to the Barnabas Fund, Grama Niladhari officials in Karukkamunai claimed that a Christian funeral was not permitted in the village cemetery and forced the woman’s daughters to hold the funeral under Hindu customs.
A Barnabas Fund contact added that in some cases “villagers have exhumed the bodies of Christians from temple-controlled burial grounds and discarded them”.
“The converts from Hindu backgrounds to Christianity in the eastern province have been through severe persecution in the past,” he added. “Churches and Christian homes have been burnt, and converts have been assaulted in several places.”
The latest incident is just one in a series of harrassment and attacks faced by Christians. Barnabas reported that last year, a house church was attacked by a 40-strong mob of Hindu extremists in Batticaloa.