Web desk: Indian police have dug up human remains in Karnataka’s Dharmasthala temple town as part of a probe into allegations that hundreds of rape and murder victims were secretly buried there since the mid-1990s.
The case centres on Dharmasthala. A historic town that houses an 800-year-old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, a widely worshipped Hindu god.
In July 2025, a former sanitation worker, who had been employed at the temple between 1995 and 2014, came forward with horrifying claims.
The man, who left Dharmasthala in 2014, said he decided to come forward because of lasting 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 in his statement.
His statement triggered a police case. And the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Karnataka’s Director General of Police, Pronab Mohanty.
Veerendra Heggade, the temple’s hereditary head and a BJP-nominated MP, has denied the claims. Critics say political influence is being used to protect the temple. They claim the scandal is being called a conspiracy to avoid facing the crimes.
The whistleblower said that he was forced for years to bury or burn bodies, including those of women and minors.
He identified 13 sites where he claimed the remains had been hidden. He explained that he decided to speak out because of guilt.
Acting on his information, the SIT began exhumations with forensic teams present. The first five sites produced no remains at all. On the sixth site, investigators found 15 bones without a skull.
At other locations, a skull, scattered bones, and 114 bone fragments were unearthed. At one site, a red sari was reported near the remains.
In one excavation, police recovered a PAN card and a debit card along with bone fragments. The documents were traced to a man who had died of jaundice and been cremated in his village years earlier. Investigators concluded that the find was unrelated to any murder.
Police have not commented in detail. But a temple spokesperson said the institution welcomed a full investigation and wanted the facts brought to light.
The complainant has said he can identify temple officials who allegedly ordered him to dispose of the bodies. But only if his family is given protection. The Karnataka government has since confirmed that security has been provided.
The man’s lawyer, Sachin Deshpande, insisted that remains were indeed found where his client directed. “They have found human remains where our client pointed, and we are sure that the truth will come out,” he said.
Older unresolved cases have also resurfaced, including that of Padmalatha, a student who was allegedly raped and murdered in Dharmasthala in 1986. Her sister Indravathi said the family had buried her in the hope of justice one day.
India’s ruling party, the BJP, called the affair a conspiracy against Hindu institutions and blamed “urban naxals” and “foreign hands”. And so, a matter that should have been strictly about innocent victims of sexual assault and murder was reduced to politics.
The atmosphere grew darker when an Indian YouTuber, Sameer MD, was booked for spreading an AI-generated video regarding the claims. Yet again, freedom of speech paid the price.
Observers fume, saying that the Dharmasthala ‘incident’ is now less about truth and justice, and more about India’s failures.
Modi government’s inability to separate religion from law, its habit of turning crimes against women into political theatre, and its eagerness to silence dissent rather than confront uncomfortable questions.
In the end, what could have been a moment to deliver dignity to victims became another reminder of how quickly India’s institutions retreat when faith and power collide.
Observers say the Dharmasthala scandal is much bigger than one whistleblower’s claims. A worker says that for nearly 20 years, he was forced to bury and burn the bodies of men, women, and children. Many of these people were sexually assaulted and brutally killed.
What’s most shocking is that the temple administrator is a BJP-nominated Member of Indian Parliament.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been accused of hiding the truth. They show “empty burial pits” while quietly admitting that human remains were found at one site.
Many see this as a way to cover up a long history of rape, murder, and disappearances connected to the temple. Past cases include the 2012 rape and murder of Sowjanya.
The temple administration has also tried to get court orders to block media reports. Experts say this attempt to silence the press suggests guilt. Innocent organisations rarely try to stop reporting.
The allegations suggest that Dharmasthala may have been a place where sexual abuse and killings were hidden behind religion.
