SCENES of grief mixed with anger at the funeral of Nitin Garg at his home in Jagraon, in the northern Indian state of Punjab, yesterday as more than 600 people came to pay their respects.

Women, including the bereaved mother, wept and wailed loudly. Male relatives and family friends tried to console them while also trying to maintain order as the mourners pushed to touch his coffin.

Later, the huge procession moved about a kilometre to the cremation grounds where Sikh priests performed the last rites.

Mr Garg's stabbing murder in West Footscray nine days ago sparked an outcry in India, further fuelling debate over the plight of Indian students in Australia.

Mourners had started arriving during Saturday night at the Garg family home after his body had been brought from Delhi airport.

Anger and incredulity were the dominant emotions at the funeral, much of it directed toward the Indian Government for making the painful task of collecting Mr Garg's body even worse than it needed to be.

''There was so much ridiculous red tape that it took them seven hours to release his body. The airport officials were hostile and didn't care. If our own Indian Government doesn't care about boys like Nitin, how can we expect the Australians to care?'' said the dead man's uncle, Avtar Singh.

Two federal ministers who attended the funeral were faced with angry mourners who demanded to know what the Government was doing to protect Indians in Australia.