Indian police have exhumed human remains in Dharmasthala, a temple town in Karnataka, as part of an investigation into allegations that hundreds of murder and rape victims were secretly buried there since the mid-1990s.
The probe follows claims by a former temple cleaner, who told authorities he was forced over two decades to dispose of hundreds of bodies, many of them women and girls showing signs of sexual assault.
In a complaint filed on July 4, the man, whose identity has been withheld for safety, said he fled Dharmasthala in 2014 but felt compelled to speak out due to lingering guilt.
“If the skeletons now exhumed receive respectful funeral rites, those tormented souls will find peace and my sense of guilt could also decrease,” he wrote. He also offered to name temple officials allegedly involved if provided protection for himself and his family, which Karnataka authorities have now arranged.
A special investigation team formed by the Karnataka government has recovered human remains from two of 16 suspected burial sites, according to senior police officials.
Interior Minister Gangadharaiah Parameshwara said forensic testing of bone fragments, soil, and other material is underway and urged the public not to frame the case as a religious matter.
The temple’s spokesperson welcomed the investigation, expressing hope that police would “bring out true facts to light.” The revelations have reignited interest in unsolved cases, including that of Padmalatha, a college student allegedly raped and murdered in Dharmasthala in 1986.
Her family had buried her body rather than following traditional Hindu cremation, hoping it would aid future investigations.
Lawyer Sachin Deshpande, representing the complainant, said the discovery of remains at sites indicated the credibility of his client’s claims and expressed confidence that the truth would emerge.
Written By Rodney Mbua
