Karnataka: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has uncovered skulls and skeletal remains during excavations at Dharmasthala, a renowned pilgrimage site on the banks of the Nethravathi River, following shocking claims by a former sanitation worker. The worker alleged that he had buried hundreds of murdered girls during his employment between 1995 and 2014. Authorities estimate that around 450 women, mostly from economically weaker sections, have gone missing in the region over the past decade without any formal cases or investigations.
Excavations are underway at 13 locations despite heavy rain and dense forest cover hampering progress. The area surrounding the temple houses several medical colleges and educational institutions, with numerous students reported missing under suspicious circumstances. In one 2014 case, a female student was allegedly murdered without a proper investigation. Initial digs up to 15 feet wide and 8 feet deep yielded no findings, but skulls and bones were later recovered at a second excavation site, with all operations being documented for evidence.
The Dharmasthala controversy first surfaced in 2012 when 17-year-old Soujanya was brutally murdered near the site. Although a suspect was arrested, he was later acquitted, leaving her family’s fight for justice unresolved. The case gained renewed attention in July this year after the sanitation worker’s letter to police detailed mass burials of murder victims, prompting the SIT to launch a full-scale probe to uncover the extent of the alleged killings.