A mob of about 150 Hindu extremists allegedly from the Bajrang Dal, shouting Hindu slogans exhumed a dead body and dumped it 3 kms away from the cemetery on March 17 in Arsikere, Karnataka.

According to reports, just as the funeral procession of late Isaac (50), member of St. Thomas Church, was over, a mob forcefully entered into the cemetery, exhumed the body, and tossed it into a tractor while reprimanding the Christians present there to carry the dead body to Rome or America, as the dead body of a Christian may contaminate the soil.

The mourners present at the site pleaded with the extremists to spare the dead body and ran after the truck. Later they managed to take hold of the dead body back to the cemetery and reported the matter to the police. However, the police advised the Christians to remain silent about exhuming the body and to bury the dead body in another cemetery, to avoid further attack from the extremists. The dead body was buried in the church of South India cemetery at midnight, one kilometer away from the St. Thomas cemetery.