3 min readBhopalUpdated: Sep 17, 2023 10:08 PM IST
A Syro Malabar Catholic priest, who was recently booked for sharing on social media a post on Manipur violence, died by suicide on September 14, police said on Sunday. He was cremated, and his ashes immersed in a river as per his last wish, church officials said.
The body of Father Anil Francis (40), a manager at St Alphonsa Academy, Garhakota, in Sagar district, was found hanging from a tree on Thursday.
Cantt police station in-charge Manish Tripathi said, “The deceased was found hanging from a tree near a cemetery. He left behind a suicide note written in English in which he stated that nobody should be blamed for his death and wished that he be cremated.”
Francis had reached the Bishop’s House in Sagar on September 13 to attend a prayer meeting the next day; however, he later went missing.
Father Sabu Puthenpurackal, public relation officer of Sagar Diocese, said that there were many issues that may have played a role in Francis taking the extreme step.
“We realise that Father Anil Francis was under tension over an FIR lodged against him for a social media post on Manipur violence. We also realise that in the suicide note, he had expressed his wish to cremate his body. We are extremely pained and sad over the death of Fr Francis,” said a statement by the Sagar Diocese.
However, the police have said that the deceased was in a dispute with another colleague at the school where he worked. “We are trying to uncover this incident. But there were some issues between him and his colleague. We have not found anything to establish that FIR was the reason behind this step,” Tripathi said.
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Francis, who took birth in a Hindu family converted to Christianity in his teenage years. His parents continued to practise the Hindu religion. He worked at a Christian school in Udaipura in Raisen district for six years before he was posted in Sagar around two years ago.
Sagar Diocese Bishop James Athikalam said, “Francis converted to Christianity while his family remained Hindu. He served as the principal of a church-run primary school in Udaipura. As far as I know, he was a good priest. He did all his priestly duties entrusted to him very well. He was a talented person. He was a good singer and an eloquent speaker. Francis also did well in the school with limited facilities.”
Bishop Athikalam said that his ashes were immersed in a local river at Sagar on Sunday. “I met his family and expressed my condolences and explained what happened. He was under constant fear and anxiety over the Manipur case FIR. The police say he had some dispute with a colleague,” he said.
