Karnataka Women’s Commission Seeks SIT Probe into Dharmasthala Crimes

Karnataka State Women’s Commission Chairperson Nagalakshmi Choudhary has urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate disturbing allegations of disappearances, unnatural deaths, murders, and sexual assaults in Dharmasthala, Dakshina Kannada district, spanning the past two decades. The prominent pilgrimage center, home to the Lord Manjunatha temple, is under scrutiny following serious claims.

In a letter dated July 14, Choudhary cited a court statement by a former sanitation worker, who alleged he was forced to bury over 100 bodies, many showing signs of sexual assault, between 1995 and 2014. Media reports from July 12, highlighting the recovery of a human skull and concerns from a missing medical student’s family, further fueled the call for action. “These revelations suggest a disturbing pattern of systematic abuse, murders, rapes, and unexplained deaths,” Choudhary wrote, describing the situation as “deeply alarming.”

Choudhary noted allegations of police negligence, with families claiming inadequate responses when reporting missing persons or unnatural deaths. She requested a high-level SIT, led by senior police officers, to conduct a thorough and impartial probe into all cases of missing women and students, unnatural deaths, murders, and sexual assaults in the region over the past 20 years.

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Dakshina Kannada police have registered a case (Crime Number 39/2025) under Section 211(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and are seeking court permission to exhume alleged burial sites. The complainant, a Dalit former temple worker, has sought witness protection, citing threats. The state government has yet to respond to the Commission’s appeal.

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