Claiming that the last rites of a person who had converted, cannot be done at a Hindu crematorium, activists of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), prevented his relatives here in Gonikoppa, on Thursday. 

Manoj Raj died on the spot during in a road accident near Kaikeri on Wednesday night. It is reported that he had converted from Hinduism to Christianity recently. After the autopsy at the Community Health Centre, the body was handed over to his family.

When relatives brought the body to the Hindu burial ground in Gonikoppa on Thursday, RSS and VHP activists arrived at the spot and alleged that Manoj Raj and his family have converted themselves into Christianity and so his last rites cannot be performed on Hindu burial ground.

Activists Manju Rai, Shashi, Kumar, Aneesh, Seenu, Shekhar, Arul Prasad and Satish locked the gates of the cremation ground and staged a protest there.

Left with no other option, the family took the body to Biligeri near Madikeri, 50 km away from Gonikoppa and performed the last rites. Pillion rider Ganesh who was also injured, is getting treated at the district hospital in Madikeri.