The man who alleged that he had buried the bodies of several people in Dharmasthala, including women and girls, gave his statement to the magistrate on Friday, July 11, in Belthangady taluk. He also handed over skeletal remains of a body that he had exhumed to the police. His lawyers however registered their protest that they were not allowed to accompany him in court despite a specific request.
A former sanitation worker had recently alleged that he had been forced to bury many bodies between 1995 and 2014 while he was employed by the Dharmasthala temple in Dakshina Kannada district. He said that many of these were women and girls, and there were signs of sexual assault.
The man, whose identity is not known, recorded his statement in a closed court room before the Principal Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate First Class, Belthangady taluk, under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
A statement released by the man’s lawyers Ojasvi Gowda and Sachin Deshpande said that they had been denied permission to accompany the man while he gave his statement.
“He is illiterate, has never been to a Court before and had expressed serious difficulty with the process. We clearly informed the court about this aspect. However, the court did not agree to the presence of the advocates and commenced the recording of the complainant's statements in our absence,” the statement said.
His lawyers also said that the police had given the man protection under the Witness Protection Scheme 2018 which had been formally communicated to them on July 10.
The man has also handed over skeletal remains to the police, sources confirmed to TNM.
A team of forensic experts reached Belthangady town on Friday, July 11.
The man had filed a complaint with the police through his lawyers on July 3, stating that he was willing to show the locations of the burials to the police provided he was given witness protection. He had alleged in his complaint that he had exhumed one of the bodies.
The Dharmasthala police had registered a case on July 4. TNM had reported that the police had made an attempt to record his statement on July 10. However, the man backtracked as negotiations with the police and his lawyers fell through.
Earlier this week, the Dharmasthala Gram Panchayat vice president Shrinivas Rao had said during a press conference that claims of over 400 unidentified bodies being found in Dharmasthala over a period of several years were a “conspiracy” and were “fabricated statements”.