Roma baby buried near Paris after controversy

WISSOUS, France - A Roma community is burying a dead infant in a Paris suburb after questions erupted over where she should be laid to rest, raising national concerns about discrimination.

About 200 family members and townspeople attended a funeral Mass on Monday. A hearse then took the small coffin to the town of Wissous for burial.

Wissous offered a gravesite for the baby after the mayor of the town where she had lived, Champlan, reportedly refused a burial.

Champlan Mayor Christian Leclerc was quoted Wednesday in the daily Le Parisien as saying priority for the few available grave sites goes to those paying taxes. He now says there was confusion among town employees about his instructions before he went on vacation, "an error of understanding in the chain of decisions." He said on the iTele TV station that "my thoughts are with the family."

Jacques Toubon, the state's defender of rights, said he was personally "stupefied" by the reported burial refusal, but said it was unclear whether, if true, there was an infraction of the law. The deceased have a right to be buried where they die, in the family grave or where they live, but whether a camp counts as a domicile is unclear.

The case has called attention to discrimination against France's estimated 20,000 Roma, also known as Gypsies. Most live in makeshift camps with few basic amenities.