What is in the complaint submitted to the SP regarding criminal acts in Dharmasthala village?
►I am haunted by guilt, please protect my family
►The dead body of a teenage girl buried with school bag and uniform still haunts me
►Disposal of hundreds of corpses
►I went to Dharmasthala and exhumed a corpse!
Mangaluru: A serious complaint regarding alleged criminal activities in Dharmasthala village has come to light. On Thursday, advocates Ojasvi Gowda and Sachin Deshpande released a copy of the complaint to the media on behalf of an individual who has reportedly submitted it to the Dakshina Kannada District Superintendent of Police (SP).
According to the SP's official statement, the complaint has been received and an investigation will be carried out. Appropriate legal action will be initiated based on the outcome of the inquiry.
The contents of the complaint, as revealed by the advocates, include shocking details about alleged murders, sexual assaults, and systematic cover-ups that reportedly occurred in and around Dharmasthala village over the years. The individual has expressed a willingness to cooperate with the investigation and has sought protection for himself and his family.
What is in the complaint?
I am being continuously threatened with death, and in the jurisdiction of Dharmasthala village and surrounding areas, I was forcibly made to bury many dead bodies of persons who were murdered and of girls/women who were raped and then killed, along with relevant evidence. I request that the dead bodies which I buried be exhumed in the presence of police officials. I also seek immediate registration of First Information Report (FIR) and witness protection.
I am haunted by guilt, please protect my family
I am submitting this complaint with a very heavy heart to come out of an unbearable guilt. I cannot continue to live with the burden of the atrocities I witnessed and the corpses I buried. The constant threat of being buried along with those corpses if I refused to comply, and the mental torment of those memories, has become unbearable.
Through this complaint, I am disclosing information about several men who were murdered, and several girls and women who were raped and murdered. I request a fast-tracked investigation and protection for myself and my family.
Eleven years ago, I fled Dharmasthala overnight and took my small family with me. We went into hiding in a neighboring state. Though we have been away from Dharmasthala, the fear that we could be murdered just like before has haunted us every single day.
Work of sanitation turned into work of hiding crimes!
I was born in what is referred to as the lowest caste. From 1995 until December 2014, I worked as a sanitation worker under the Dharmasthala Temple. I regularly performed cleaning work near and around the Netravati River. What began as a regular job gradually turned into the horrifying task of covering up heinous crimes.
In the beginning, I noticed dead bodies. At first, I thought these were suicides or accidental drownings. Most of the corpses were of women. Many of the female bodies were found without clothes or undergarments. Some of these corpses had visible signs of sexual assault and violence; injuries and strangulation marks were seen on their bodies. Around 1998, my supervisors instructed me to dispose of these bodies secretly rather than reporting them to the police.
Beaten and threatened for questioning
When I refused and insisted that these deaths must be reported to the police, I was beaten severely. They warned me that if I ever disobeyed their instructions or spoke to anyone, “you will be chopped into pieces,” “your body will be buried like the others,” and “your whole family will be sacrificed.”
Previously, the person who held this job had “disappeared” after refusing. There was no ambiguity in their threats – “Follow orders or be slaughtered with your entire family.”
Teenage girl's corpse buried with school bag
The supervisors would call me to specific locations where the bodies had to be buried. Many times, these were of underage girls or women. They were without undergarments, their clothes torn, and there were injuries on their private parts indicating brutal sexual assault. Some bodies had acid burn marks too. One incident that haunts me terribly happened in 2010 when I was sent to a location about 500 meters from the petrol pump in Kalleri.
There I saw the dead body of a teenage girl, around 12–15 years of age. She was wearing a school uniform shirt but her skirt and undergarments were missing. Her body clearly showed signs of sexual assault. There were strangulation marks on her neck. I was ordered to dig a pit and bury her along with her school bag. That scene is still fresh in my memory.
Organised killings of beggars and the destitute!
Another unforgettable case was of a woman in her 20s. Her face had been burned with acid. Her body was covered with newspaper. I was instructed not only to bury her but also to burn her footwear and all her belongings with her. I have witnessed many cases where poor and destitute men who came to beg in Dharmasthala were systematically murdered.
The method of killing was brutal. They were tied to chairs in rooms and suffocated using towels pulled from behind. These murders happened in front of me. I was instructed to bury these corpses deep in the forests.
Disposal of hundreds of corpses; my own family member was also sexually abused!
During my employment, I have buried dead bodies at many places around Dharmasthala. At times, I was ordered to burn them using diesel so that no trace would remain. I estimate that hundreds of bodies were disposed of in this manner.
By 2014, the psychological torture I was enduring became unbearable. When a man associated with my supervisor sexually abused a girl in my family, we realized we had to escape immediately. Otherwise, we knew our end was near. In December 2014, I fled Dharmasthala with my family. We made sure no one knew where we were going.
Since then, we have been hiding in a neighboring state, living in fear. We keep changing residences. But I continue to live under the burden of guilt. My conscience no longer allows me to stay silent. I want the world to know who these people were and who was responsible for the rapes and murders.
I went to Dharmasthala and exhumed a corpse!
Despite the threat to my life, I have decided to speak out. As proof of my claims, I recently went secretly to a location in Dharmasthala where I had buried a corpse and exhumed it. I am willing to provide details of this location to the investigation officer. I am submitting photographs of the corpse and the exhumed remains along with this complaint.
I am ready to show the locations where I secretly buried these corpses across Dharmasthala to the investigating officer. I am ready to exhume the remains in police presence. The people I have accused in this complaint are associated with the administration of the Dharmasthala Temple and its staff. They were the ones who instructed me to bury the corpses and subjected me to constant death threats and violence.
However, I cannot reveal their names in this complaint. Some of the people I would name are extremely influential and are known to eliminate anyone who opposes them. Once I and my family receive protection under the 2018 Witness Protection Scheme, I am ready to reveal the names of all accused persons and the exact roles they played in these crimes.
I submit this complaint with full knowledge of the consequences of providing false information. I confirm that the above is true to the best of my knowledge and belief. I am willing to undergo a polygraph or any other test to prove the truth of my statement.
Give a respectful final ritual to hundreds of dead
I further request that the hundreds of dead bodies I buried, who were denied a dignified and lawful final rite, be now given a respectful burial. I believe that if these remains are exhumed and respectfully buried, their souls may attain peace and my guilt may lessen. For this reason, I request legal permission to exhume all the corpses I buried.
I appeal to you to consider this complaint with utmost seriousness and take immediate steps to investigate these heinous crimes, and provide justice to the countless unknown victims who were denied dignity even in death. I humbly request you to keep my name and identity confidential.
In case I am murdered or go missing before I reveal the names of the accused and their roles in the crimes to the police, I have signed and handed over a follow-up complaint with those details to Supreme Court advocate Shri K.V. Dhananjay.
Enclosures:
Aadhaar Card
Identity Card issued by Dharmasthala Institution
Voter ID registered in Beltangady-Dharmasthala
Photographs of the skeletal remains
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Indian mobile hospital treats over 2,200 cyclone-hit people as New Delhi ramps up relief efforts in
Colombo (PTI): A mobile hospital set up by India in Sri Lanka has provided medical care to over 2,200 people affected by Cyclone Ditwah, as New Delhi ramped up its assistance to the flood-ravaged island nation with engineering support and delivery of fresh relief consignments, the Indian mission here said on Sunday.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse triggered by the cyclone, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.
At least 627 people have been killed and 190 remain missing as of Sunday noon due to catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
Sharing a social media post by the Ministry of External Affairs on its X handle, the Indian High Commission said a field hospital set up by India in Mahiyanganaya near Kandy has provided medical care to more than 2,200 people affected by the cyclone since December 5.
The hospital has also performed 67 minor procedures and three surgeries, it said. The field hospital was airlifted to Sri Lanka by an IAF C-17 aircraft along with a 78-member Indian medical team on Tuesday.
In another post, the mission said Indian Army engineers, working with Sri Lanka Army Engineers and the Road Development Authority, in Kilinochchi have begun removing a damaged bridge on the Paranthan–Karachchi–Mullaitivu (A35) road, a key route disrupted by the cyclone.
"This joint effort marks another step toward restoring vital connectivity for affected communities," it said.
India has additionally sent nearly 1,000 tonnes of food items and clothing contributed by the people of Tamil Nadu. Of these, about 300 tonnes reached Colombo on Sunday morning aboard three Indian Naval ships.
High Commissioner Santosh Jha handed over the supplies to Sri Lankan Minister for Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe.
India, on November 28, launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu', a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka in its recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Since the launch of the operation, India has provided about 58 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential cloths, water purification kits and about 4.5 tonnes of medicines and surgical equipment, the Indian mission said in a press release on Sunday.
Another 60 tonnes of equipment, including generators, inflatable rescue boats, Outboard Motors, and excavators, have also been brought to Sri Lanka, it said, adding that 185 tonnes of Bailey Bridge units were airlifted to restore critical connectivity along with 44 engineers.
Two columns of the National Disaster Response Force, comprising 80 experts and K9 units with specially trained dogs, assisted with immediate rescue and relief efforts in Sri Lanka.
Besides the field hospital in Mahiyanganaya, medical centres have also been set up in the badly hit Ja-Ela region and in Negombo. INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri, and INS Sukanya provided immediate rescue and relief assistance to Sri Lanka.
Apart from the two Chetak helicopters deployed from INS Vikrant, two heavy-lift, MI-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force are actively involved in evacuations and airlifting relief material, the release said.
At the request of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, a virtual meeting was organised between DMC and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s National Remote Sensing Centre on Saturday.
Since the onset of the disaster, ISRO has been providing maps to assist DMC in its rescue efforts, the release said.
