Amid the ongoing probe into the Dharmasthala mass burial case, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has received a fresh complaint regarding the suspicious death of a woman that took place 38 years ago in Dharmasthala. Despite allegations of abduction, rape and murder, this case was never solved.
On Monday, August 11, Indravathi, a resident of Nelyadi, approached the SIT office in Belthangady seeking a reinvestigation into the death of her sister Padmalatha in 1986.
According to her complaint, Padmalatha, then a second-year PU student at SDM College in Ujire, went missing on December 22, 1986. Her decomposed body was discovered near the Neriya stream on February 17, 1987.
In her complaint, Indravathi said that their father, late Devananda, a CPI(M) leader, had fought for justice, alleging that Padmalatha had been abducted, raped and murdered.
“My father’s house was previously located in Boliyar. My father, late Devananda, who was a CPI(M) leader, had fought for justice and demanded strict punishment for the perpetrators involved in the alleged abduction, rape and murder. The then government had launched a COD probe following public pressure.” The COD, or Corps of Detectives, was the state’s specialised investigation wing. Now it has been renamed as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Indravathi said that the case was even discussed in the Assembly, and the then minister Rachaiah visited the family and assured action. However, the investigation was later closed without any convictions, she said.
She also said that the family had chosen not to cremate Padmalatha’s body, instead burying it in the hope that it might one day serve as evidence. She has now requested the SIT to exhume the remains, conduct a fresh inquiry, and bring those responsible to justice, expressing her willingness to testify as a witness.