Dharmasthala Rape-Murder Burial: Sanitation Worker Breaks Silence
Former worker claims bodies were secretly buried near Dharmasthala temple; investigation underway.
A shocking case has come to light from Karnataka, raising serious concerns about crimes and cover-ups that may have happened over nearly two decades. A former sanitation worker from the holy town of Dharmasthala has claimed that between 1995 and 2014, he was forced to secretly burn or bury the bodies of people who were raped or murdered—many of them young girls.
He says he stayed silent for years because of fear. He was threatened with statements like “If you speak, you’ll disappear like them.” But in 2025, he found the courage to speak up after seeing other brave whistleblowers like Satyendra Dubey, Manjunath, and Dr. Anand Rai on the news. He also received spiritual support from a local Swamiji and legal help from advocates he trusted.
On 3rd July 2025, he filed an official police complaint. He even went back to one of the burial sites, dug up skeletal remains, took photos, and submitted bones to the court as proof. The remains were seized by authorities, and the police have now started investigating seriously.
According to his complaint, the worker says he was not acting alone. He was forced to do this by people connected to the temple administration. He claims that when he refused, he was beaten and threatened. He also said that in 2014, one of his family members was attacked as a warning to keep him quiet. After this, he fled Dharmasthala and lived in hiding for years in a nearby state.
The FIR has been registered under Section 211(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The sanitation worker also gave his official statement in court on 11th July under Section 183, which allows a person to tell their story directly to a judge.
The Karnataka State Women’s Commission has now asked for a special investigation team (SIT) to look into all missing and unnatural death cases around Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014. Police have also started planning to unearth more suspected burial sites to check for more human remains. Forensic teams will supervise the digging, and any bones found will be tested for DNA to match with old missing person cases.
Meanwhile, under the Witness Protection Scheme 2018, the identity of the sanitation worker has been kept secret due to serious threats to his life. His lawyers, Ojaswi Gowda and Sachin Deshpande, helped him throughout the process and are now requesting the police to act fast before any evidence is destroyed.
In the middle of this serious case, a Kannada YouTuber was booked by police for spreading false AI-generated rumors online. The police have confirmed that investigations will be based only on real facts and evidence.
If the worker’s claims turn out to be true, Karnataka may be facing one of the darkest criminal investigations in its recent history. Many people are demanding that the case be handed over to the CBI for a fair and independent probe. All eyes are now on the government and police to deliver justice.
