Three years after his death, Goa activist priest laid to rest

The mortal remains of Bismarque Dias, an activist priest who was found dead in mysterious circumstances back in November 2015, will finally be accorded a funeral on the third anniversary of his death even as his family’s three-year-long campaign demanding ‘justice’, believing he was murdered, remains inconclusive.

Bismarque who was initially reported missing, but to the shock of his family and band of activists his lifeless body was found floating in the River Mandovi which surrounds his native island village of St Estevam, close to Panaji.

The family which had earlier refused a burial for over three years demanding the completion of criminal proceedings, which were initiated after they approached the high court, later relented after doctors at the Goa Medical College and Hospital informed that no further tests could be performed on the body.

“We have longed to receive Bismarque’s earthly remains and have a proper farewell. But we also know that besides being our brother… he was the son and brother of Zua (St Estevam) and Goa. Hence, we have waited patiently so that a proper investigation may be carried out and justice may be served. We may lay his earthly remains to rest but our fight for justice continues,” his brother Mario Dias said.

According to the police, Bismarque went for a late night picnic with two boys along the river bank and ventured into the river waters and “accidentally” died of “asphyxia as a result of drowning in the water”. The two boys who were questioned by villagers and police alike claim that Bismarque who had taken a dip vanished into the murky waters without a sound. His body was found more than 24 hours later floating closer to the opposite bank.

The family, however, refused to accept the magistrate’s inquiry and challenged it before the high court at Goa which ordered the state police to investigate the case from the criminal angle.

“The circumstances which led the deceased to the river shore have not been established during the course of the investigation. The state cannot shy away from an impartial and a fair investigation to examine the root cause of an unnatural death to the satisfaction of the family members of the deceased,” the court had said.

Dias who championed many environmental causes was outspoken against the Church in Goa opposing the its decision to sell an entire island to a builder. He also campaigned against several large government and private projects including Goa’s upcoming second airport, a golf project and large housing projects. Dias also unsuccessfully contested the 2012 Goa Assembly elections as an independent candidate despite a bar from the Church to do so.

Weeks prior to his death, he recorded a video message naming a list of persons who he said would be a threat to his life. The police, as part of their inquiry, recorded the statements of some of the persons named, but have said they found no evidence to indicate that Bismarque was murdered.

The family delayed the burial fearing that the case would be forgotten once he was interred.

The funeral will be held at St Estevam on November 6.

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