ALAPPUZHA: Following the district administration's ultimatum, the burial of a 94-year-old man caught in a stand-off between two church factions was held on Tuesday, after ten days, at St. Mary's Orthodox Church, Kattachira near Kayamkulam.
The Orthodox faction allowed the grandson of the deceased, a priest, to attend funeral service wearing priest's dress.
Varghese Mathew Pallikkalethu, who belongs to the Jacobite faction, died on November 3 and his body was kept in a mobile mortuary at his house for the past ten days.
After a meeting convened by the district administration on Monday, it asked the relatives to conduct funeral on Monday, and if they fail the district administration would hold the funeral.
Officials said that the funeral service was outside the church and body buried at the church burial ground.
"No one was allowed to the altar. No untoward incident occurred during funeral service," said an official.
The Orthodox faction was resisting the grandson, a Jacobite priest, attending the funeral service wearing the priest's garb, which was not acceptable to relatives.
Meanwhile, Fr. Roy George, vicar of the church (Jacobite faction), Fr. Georgee John, the grandson, and relatives took part in the funeral.
Earlier, the National Human Rights Commission issued a notice and directed the state chief secretary to intervene.
The commission said that the state should take care of the human rights of the family members and the family should immediately be allowed to do all religious rituals and formalities to conduct burial there.
The two were at loggerheads after Orthodox faction obtained a favourable order from the Supreme Court regarding the ownership of the church earlier this year.
