Bengaluru, July 20: The Karnataka government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT), comprising four IPS officers to probe into the allegations of 'secret burials' of hundreds of women, allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered at pilgrimage place of Dharmasthala in Dakshina Kannada district..
The allegations, which started as a social media campaign gained momentum after a person, claiming to be a former employee of the temple and buried hundreds of bodies at the behest of his manager, surfaced and gave a statement before the Magistrate.
The Karnataka Women's Commission, which also received the complaint wrote a letter to the government, which formed SIT under ADGP (Internal Security) Pranab Mohanthy, DIG M N Anucheth, DCP Soumya Latha and Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Dayama.
The entire episode started gaining momentum after rape and murder of 17-year-old Soujanya, that took place in 2012, while she was returning home from the college. The murder had sent a shock wave into the temple town, as it was a brutal rape and murder in an isolated place. When the Dharmasthala police arrested Santhosh Rao, a mentally challenged person, outrage broke out. The parents and villagers suspected that the children of the powerful persons in the temple administration were behind the rape and murder. After a furore, the investigation was handed over to the CBI.
In 2016, the CBI court acquitted Santhosh Rao, pointing out glaring lacunae in the course of police investigation. Though the CBI went on appeal, even the Karnataka High Court, in 2023, upheld the special court judgement.
After the 2016 judgment, the entire episode started gaining a mass momentum, with many people from outside also joining the fight for `Justice to Soujanya'. They alleged that there were a number of women were being raped and murdered in the forests around Dharmasthala along the Netravati river banks and without naiming started blaming family members of the temple trustees.
Meanwhile, on June 21, a person claiming to be former employee of Dharmasthala temple submitted a letter to the Dakshina Kannada SP that he had buried hundreds of bodies of women, who were raped and murdered. He also said that one of the victims was just a 12-year-old school going girl. Two advocates -- Ojaswi Gowda and Sachin S Deshpande escorted him to the SP office and got a statement recorded before the Magistrate. The Magistrate also ordered to protect the identity of the witness.They also submitted a photograph of skull and some bones, which the person claimed that he dug it back out of guilt of not giving a proper burial to that body.
Meanwhile, on July 16, a woman from Mangaluru lodged a complaint with Dharmasthala police station, seeking to look out for her daughter, a medical student, who went missing from Dharmasthala.
Sujatha Bhat's daughter Ananya Bhat was studying MBBS in Manipal andin 2003, she had gone to Dharmasthala along with her friends. However, she went missing. Sujatha Bhat approached both Belthangadi and Dharmasthala police, where she did not get any support. In her complaint, Sujatha Bhat said that she had gone to Kolkata on official work when her daughter disappeared, but when she approached police in Dharmasthala, she was assaulted. Now, a fresh FIR has been registered on the basis of Sujatha Bhat at Dharmasthala police station.
Following all the developments, the Karnataka Women's Commission wrote a letter to the State government over the allegations and said that there were rumours of hundreds of women have met unnatural deaths, raped and murdered around Dharmasthala over the years. The Commission requested the government to form SIT to investigate into all the unnatural deaths, the allegations of rape and murders as well as the rumours of 'secret burials.'
