Mauris Noronha was buried on Friday afternoon at the Haines Road cemetery in Mahalaxmi and not the local burial ground in Borivali near his house because of worries about a public backlash.
Noronha was a resident of Immaculate Conception (IC) Colony, which is served by the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception (IC) Church, Borivali. The police said there was opposition from residents in the predominantly Catholic colony to Noronha’s burial in the local church.
According to one priest who serves at another church, Ghosalkar was popular in the area. “He had helped with a celebration in the colony during Christmas. Apparently there was political rivalry between the two as Noronha also had political ambitions,” the priest said. Some local residents said that Noronha, in a show of political upmanship, had arranged free buses for residents to travel to a recent church festival in Nashik.
A priest from Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church was quoted in an online news portal that his church was opposed to Mauris’ burial. Another church in the area, too, had declined to accept the body after worries of backlash. Efforts by the police to convince the local churches didn’t work.
The others in the Catholic community said that the local church was ‘playing to the galleries’ by not accepting the body of a man who killed himself. “We are no one to sit in judgment. We have to give him the benefit of time. In the past, bodies of people who committed suicide were consigned to a secluded place in cemeteries. This practice no longer exists. Judgment is reserved to God,” said a priest.
Another member of the community said that the rule in the local Catholic church was clearly laid out. “If you are a member of the parish, stipulations say that you can be buried in the local cemetery,” said the church member.
