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Amid shocking allegations of mass burials of women and children who were allegedly sexually assaulted, the Karnataka State Commission for Women has written to the Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, seeking detailed information on missing women and students in the Dharmasthala area over the past 20 years.
Taking suo motu cognisance of statements made by a whistleblower and recent media reports, the Commission’s Chairperson, Nagalakshmi Chowdhary, has called for urgent answers and accountability.
In a letter dated July 14, the Commission cited the testimony of a former sanitation worker who claimed he was forced to bury bodies — many of them women and girls who appeared to have been sexually assaulted — while working for the Dharmasthala temple between 1995 and 2014.
“Many families have also alleged that the staff did not respond properly when they went to the police station to register a case of disappearance or death of their children,” the letter stated.
The Commission has sought the following information from the district police:
> How many women and students have gone missing in the Dharmasthala area in the last 20 years?
> How many of them have been found and how many remain untraced?
> What action has been taken in cases of unnatural death, murder, and rape?
The Commission has asked the authorities to submit a detailed report within seven days of receiving the letter.
The ongoing investigation was triggered by a complaint from a former sanitation worker, who approached the police on July 3 through his lawyers. He claimed that while working for the Dharmasthala temple administration between 1995 and 2014, he was forced to bury several bodies, some of which, he alleged, bore signs of sexual violence. He said he fled the area nearly a decade ago and returned recently, driven by guilt.
The Dharmasthala police registered a case on July 4. After initial delays, the man recorded his statement on July 11 before the Principal Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate First Class in Belthangady, under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).