Family and friends bid adieu to Bismarque, body laid to rest on 3rd death anniv

PANAJI
Hundreds gathered at the St Stephen's church on Tuesday to bid their final adieu to former priest and activist Bismarque Dias whose mortal remains were laid to rest in his native, island-village of St Estevam.
Over a score of Catholic priests joined in concelebrating the funeral mass which was presided over by the local parish priest Fr Eusico.
Tuesday also happened to be the third anniversary of his death which occurred under mysterious circumstances in 2015 allegedly due to drowning after his body had been found floating in a tributary of the Mandovi hugging the St Estevam village a day after he was reported missing.
Sources said, the family finally veered to the view of holding the funeral as many felt the fiery priest-turned-activist deserved a respectful burial.
It came several months after the Crime Branch investigation, ordered by the Bombay High Court, concluded and ruled out any foul play in the mysterious circumstances of his death.
Before his death, Dias was in the fore-front of every agitation and protest against rapid concretisation of Goa and his village, the big ticket development projects promoted by the Goa government including the Mopa airport and others.
He had also unsuccessfully contested the Cumbharjua seat in the 2012 Goa assembly polls.
Activists and friends had launched a campaign to seek a fair probe into Dias' death. The campaign had accused the politician-builder nexus as being responsible for the death.
Dias was also a vociferous critic of the Church authorities for selling land for commercial reasons, which embarrassed the hierarchy and for which he was reportedly reprimanded.
Meanwhile, a section of St Estevam villagers felt relieved that the former priest, an immensely popular figure in the village, was finally given a befitting funeral.
Although still upset as they believe the campaign for justice in the case remains unfulfilled, they claimed to be satisfied that his mortal remains were laid to rest.
"I think we failed to get justice from the government. I think the time is now right (for the burial)," Rangel said.