The police are investigating a Kerala family's claim that the patriarch of the family, who was also a spiritual figure, attained 'samadhi', after which they buried him in a concrete tomb. The claim triggered controversy with the residents raising suspicion.
The incident came to light on Sunday when local residents in Kerala's Neyattinkara, a suburb in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram, noticed a poster put up by the family stating that Gopan Swamy, a 78-year-old self-styled spiritual leader, attained 'samadhi'. Gopan Swamy's son Rajashekharan told the neighbours that his father informed them that "his time for Samadhi" had arrived.
"As per his desire, my father walked towards the tree and sat under it, after which he attained Samadhi. He had informed us about his plan to do so and had meticulously arranged the burial site, including the tombstone that he sourced from a place near Kanya Kumari," Rajashekharan told reporters.
After he attained Samadhi, Rajasenan, his brother Sananthan, their mother Sulochana, and a daughter-in-law performed the burial without informing local people or relatives because the "rituals would not have the desired effect if it involved other people."
However, the residents and close relatives alleged that Gopan Swamy was bedridden for days and could not have walked himself. They demanded the police investigate the matter.
Though the district collector permitted the exhumation of the body to be sent for postmortem examination, the family protested against the move, alleging that it would hurt their religious sentiments. The officials who arrived at the site to carry out the exhumation process decided not to do it on Monday after things escalated. However, officials said the new date for exhuming the controversial burial site of Neyyattinkara Gopan Swami will be decided on Tuesday after considering the police report.
A copy of the collector’s order regarding the exhumation was handed over to the family. However, the family said they would approach the court against the move to exhume the body.
Meanwhile, there are doubts about when the poster announcing his death was printed. Speculations are rife that the poster was printed by the family before the death.
The deceased Gopan Swamy was a headload worker, who turned to the spiritual path. He had built a temple inside his premises and had been conducting pooja rituals for the last many years.
