Village dispute over Christian woman’s funeral ends in Hindu cremation after family agreement
In Nawagaon, Dhamtari district, Chhattisgarh, relatives of Peonbai Sahu, 55, who died on Sept. 10, sought a Christian burial; villagers insisted last rites follow Hindu custom. After hours of talks with local leaders, the family agreed to a Hindu cremation and community participation; a temple purification ritual followed.
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Peonbai Sahu, also spelled Peyan in ETV Bharat’s account, died on September 10, 2026, in Nawagaon (ETV: Navagaon, Beler) in Dhamtari district, Chhattisgarh. She was 55, divorced, and living in her brother’s household, UCA News and ETV Bharat reported. Relatives prepared a Christian burial. Villagers objected and said last rites in the village could proceed only under Hindu custom. ETV Bharat placed the dispute under the Sihawa police-station area and said a crowd gathered.
Umesh Sahu, her brother, told UCA News the family had been “associated with Christianity” for about eight years; ETV Bharat quoted him as saying they had attended a Christian missionary for that period. Villagers alleged the household had stayed apart from village and community rites. Kawar Ram Sahu, a Sahu-community official, told ETV Bharat that the Village Development Committee had long urged the family to return to Hindu practice and that funerals in the village are ordinarily a communal duty. A meeting with the panchayat, the village development committee, and other local figures lasted several hours. Umesh Sahu said the family was asked to stay with the community and agreed; ETV Bharat quoted him saying they would take part in village events. After that assent, the woman was cremated under Hindu rites. Villagers then held a temple purification — ETV Bharat described Ganga water and tulsi — described as reintegrating the family. This brief records that sequence and the family’s stated agreement after prolonged talks. It does not treat the assent as freely given, and it does not call the episode an unattributed forced reconversion.
Father Shibu Roy, a pastor in Dhamtari, called the outcome “the height of injustice” and said “even the dead are not spared,” UCA News reported — his opinion. Ramesh Kumar, a Chhattisgarh human-rights lawyer, told UCA News that attackers of minorities were increasingly shielded and that the state’s anti-conversion laws had been “weaponized” against a peaceful Christian community — also opinion, not a court finding. This brief records those comments as attributed views.
Sources
UCA News: Indian village forces Christian woman’s family to cremate her (Sep 11, 2026)
https://www.ucanews.com/news/indian-village-forces-christian-womans-family-to-cremate-her/115272ETV Bharat: Woman's Cremation Halted Over Religious Practice, Family Agrees To Return To Original Faith In Chhattisgarh's Dhamtari (Sep 10, 2026)
https://www.etvbharat.com/en/state/dispute-over-funeral-rites-against-religious-conversion-villagers-consent-after-return-original-faith-in-dhamtari-enn26091008085
Corrections and updates
- Update, September 14, 2026: Brief prepared from UCA News (Sep 11) and ETV Bharat (Sep 10). Given name appears as Peonbai (UCA) and Peyan (ETV); place as Nawagaon / Navagaon. Pastor and lawyer comments are labeled opinion. ETV’s “return to original faith” frame is the villagers’ and the outlet’s wording, not this brief’s finding. UCA News was Cloudflare-challenged at fetch; the live URL and a search-visible extract were used. Wayback Save Page Now and archive.today were attempted at filing.