Plea in Kerala HC against exhuming body of man who 'attained samadhi'

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday sought responses from the state government and police regarding a plea to halt the exhumation of the body of a 69-year-old man, whose family claimed he had attained 'samadhi.'

While issuing notices to the government and police, Justice C S Dias declined to interfere with the investigation into the death of the man, identified as Gopan Swami. The judge stated that probe agencies have the authority to investigate cases involving individuals who go missing or die under suspicious circumstances.

The court observed that there appeared to be something suspicious in this matter and, therefore, the investigation could not be stopped.

While accepting the petition, the court sought Gopan Swami's death certificate, noting that in its absence, his death would be presumed unnatural.

The court's observations were made during the hearing of a plea by Gopan Swami's widow, Sulochana, who claimed that local authorities and police were attempting to demolish the site of the 'samadhi' and sought orders to prevent this.

The court questioned the petitioner about her apprehensions regarding the investigation and inquired how her husband had died. It listed the matter for consideration next week.

Dramatic scenes unfolded on Monday in Neyyattinkara, Thiruvananthapuram district, as Gopan Swami's family and residents opposed police attempts to exhume his body.

The Neyyattinkara police had received an order from the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) to exhume the body, which was buried under suspicious circumstances, for a post-mortem examination.

The incident came to light after posters near his residence proclaimed, "Gopan Swami has attained samadhi." The police registered a missing case and decided to exhume the body following complaints from residents alleging foul play in his death.

Gopan Swami's son, Rajasenan, claimed that his father walked to the burial site around 11.30 pm on Friday and entered samadhi.

He told media that Gopan Swami had instructed the family to keep his body away from public view and bury it in the grave.

The special burial site was built by Gopan Swami, a priest who had established a temple on his property at Kavuvilakam in Neyyattinkara.