Family get surrounded by angry mob at funeral

After burial, 150 locals surround grieving family of covid deceased patient, threaten to set their car on fire

Amid grief, the family of a covid deceased patient had to face an angry mob, who questioned the burial. A mob of around 150 angry people cornered a grieving family at the cemetery of St Antony’s church in Kodathi on Sarjapur Main Road, on Monday evening. Fr Santosh Royan, the parish priest alleged that the police present did not help the family.

The covid patient was a member of the parish of Dharmaram church, and after his death, the church’s cemetery did not have a place to bury him. The deceased’s family contacted one of the four helpline numbers initiated by the Archdiocese of Bengaluru and coveyed their wishes of conducting a proper burial for the deceased and did not wish to opt for cremation. After a few calls, they were granted a spot, available at the cemetery of St Antony’s Church in Kodathi.

The burial was over by 4 pm, and noticing the funeral party in full PPEs, a mob started to form and surrounded the family’s car.


One of the deceased’s sons had flown in from Kerela for the funeral and had a quarantine stamp on his hand from the airport. This infuriated the mob further. Fr Royan, who was accompanying the family, called the police and a Hoysala patrol rushed to the spot, but seeing the number of locals, the police started supporting the locals
and threatened the priests and the family members. “The locals picked up stones to hurl at the car and even threatened to set fire,” Fr Royan said.

Fr Royan then called up the head priest who in turn informed the DG-IGP’s office who instructed senior officials to take stock of the situation. A bigger team of police rushed to the spot and calmed down the locals.