Complainant arrested in Dharmasthala mass burial case

DHARMASTHALA: Karnataka’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested a former cleaning worker at the Manjunatha Swamy Temple in India’s Dharmasthala on charges of perjury.

The former worker was arrested for the claims he had made about mass rapes, murders, and secret mass burials at the temple for more than two decades.

The accused in the Dharmasthala temple case said that he had worked between 1995 and 2014 at the temple and alleged that he was forced to perform mass burials of hundreds of women and minors.

In his testimony before a magistrate in July ealier this year, he presented a human skull, which he claimed was recovered from one of the burial sites.

However, later forensic analysis unovered discrepancies, with investigators confirming that the recovered skull and bone fragments from two sites were not linked to the claims he had made.

According to the investigations, it was found that the remains were of a male individual who had probably committed suicide.

The Indian authorities conducted searches at 17 locations, many of them in remote areas, following the Dharmasthala temple case. Out of the 17, only two sites had skeletal remains, which have been sent for forensic testing.

The administrator of the temple and a member of India’s Rajya Sabha, Veerendra Heggade, greeted the investigation team and assured the temple’s complete cooperation in the Dharmasthala temple case.

He termed the allegations baseless, and expressed trust in the judicial system and investigation teams.

The case has caused tensions in Karnataka, with Opposition leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slamming the investigation for what they call was an injustice to the majority Hindu community.

The BJP laders have been demanding the case be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

State Home Minister G. Parameshwara mentioned that the government was concentrating to uncover the truth. He said, “If we find nothing, Dharmasthala will only become stronger. If we find something, we will ensure justice is done.”

Legal experts believe that more arrests could happen if investigators find evidence of a planned conspiracy.