PANAJI

Mortal remains of activist Fr Bismarque Dias were finally laid to rest on Sunday in his ancestral village of St Estevam.

Fr Bismarque had drowned somewhere in the intervening night of November 5 and 6 2015, when he allegedly went swimming with two male acquaintances, one of whom was a minor. The body was discovered on 7 November, washed up near a sluice gate at St Estevam.

While his family members and friends had raised suspicion over the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, the crime branch had concluded that the priest died due to drowning.

The family members had earlier demanded a thorough investigation and refused to accept his mortal remains which were preserved in a morgue at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).

The corpse was brought to his ancestral village Sunday morning and was kept at St Estevam Church for final prayers.

Fr Dias was buried in the cemetery of the church. Nearly a hundred people came to bid final adieu to Fr Bismarque.