Published Jul 05, 2025 | 7:49 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 05, 2025 | 7:49 PM
Ex-worker alleged murders, rapes, and secret burials tied to Dharmasthala Temple administration.
Synopsis: A chilling complaint has surfaced in Karnataka, with a former sanitation worker alleging decades-long cover-ups of sexual assaults, murders, and secret burials linked to the Dharmasthala administration. Now in hiding, he has submitted a six-page complaint with photos and identification, offering to guide authorities to burial sites—if granted protection under the Witness Protection Act, 2018
This is a story that has sent shivers across the state of Karnataka. A complaint has been filed by an individual in hiding with his family with the Superintendent of Police, Dakshina Kannada district.
These are allegations dating back decades over cover-ups of sexual assaults, murders and clandestine burials in and around Dharmasthala.
The complainant has filed 6 pages of information and has also provided to his lawyers official identification and photographic evidence.
He has accused individuals linked to the Dharmasthala administration of systematically disposing of bodies that according to him allegedly showed signs of brutal violence that included rape and torture.
The man says he is ready to lead authorities to the sites where he was made to bury these victims if he and his family are provided protection under the Witness Protection Act of 2018.
The complainant states that he worked from 1995 to 2014 as a sanitation worker under the Temple’s sanitation department. This included cleaning works along the Netravati River. But things changed slowly.
“Early in my career, I noticed the bodies being dumped…Many of the female bodies were found without clothing or underwear. Some bore clear signs of sexual assault and violence: the bodies bore wounds or strangulation that indicated violence,” he says.
“Around 1998, my supervisors instructed me to secretly dispose of these bodies instead of reporting them to the police. When I immediately refused and insisted that the deaths should be reported to the police, I was severely beaten. If I refused to follow their instructions or told anyone about it, they threatened, “We will cut you into pieces,” “Your body will be buried like the rest of the bodies,” and “We will kill your entire family.” Previously, they said, the person who had been doing the job had “disappeared” as soon as he hesitated. Their threat was unmistakable – “Keep it or be cut into pieces with your family.”
Detailing 2 particular cases, he tells of a school girl whose body he was forced to bury in 2010.
“The supervisors sent me to a place about 500 meters from a petrol pump. There I found the body of a teenage girl. She was probably between 12 and 15 years old. She was wearing a school uniform shirt. Her body bore clear signs of sexual assault.”
In the other case, he says he was made to dispose of the body of a woman whose face had been burned with acid.
It was just not girls and women targeted according to him. Even poor men were targeted. “These murders took place in my presence,” he said. “I was instructed to bury these bodies in remote forest areas.”
Unable to bear all this, he with his family fled Dharmasthala in 2014. He has been living in hiding in a neighbouring state, constantly haunted by fear and guilt.
Now he says he is ready to show the investigating officer the places where the dead bodies are burried.
“I am ready to exhume the remains of the buried bodies in the presence of the police.”
“I am filing this complaint with full knowledge of the consequences of submitting false information. I certify that the above information is true to the best of my knowledge and belief. I am willing to submit to a polygraph or other test to establish the truthfulness of what I have stated,” he said.
His plea is that the bodies that he has buried are deprived of due respect and last rites. “I believe that if the bodies that are being exhumed are given proper last rites, the souls of those who have suffered will find peace and my sense of guilt will also be reduced. For this reason, I request you to allow the hundreds of bodies that I have buried to be exhumed as per the law.”
Towards the end of his complainant, he pleads with the authorities to take this complaint with the utmost seriousness and take immediate action to investigate these heinous crimes and provide justice to the countless victims who were denied dignity even in death.
Reports now state that the police have registered the complaint (Crime Number 39/2025) under Section 211(a) of the BNS, after obtaining court permission.
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
