A former sanitation worker from Dharmasthala village in Dakshina Kannada district has made a shocking claim. He said that between 1998 and 2014, he was forced to get rid of many murder victims, including many women who were also sexually assaulted. In his complaint filed on July 3, he said he saw some of these murders himself and was threatened to either bury or burn the bodies. He said he kept quiet because he feared for his life.
He gave his complaint to the Superintendent of Police in Mangaluru and the Dharmasthala Police Station. A case was registered the next day under Section 211(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Police said they will investigate his claims and are asking the court for permission to excavate (exhume) the places where the bodies might be buried.
Dharmasthala is a well-known temple town about 75 km from Mangaluru. It is famous for its Shiva temple, which is managed by the Jain Heggade family. The man who complained said he worked as a sanitation worker for the Dharmasthala temple administration from 1995 to 2014. At first, he was in charge of cleaning around the Netravati river. He said that over time, he started finding more and more dead bodies, many of them were women who looked like they had been raped and murdered. He said, “Many female bodies had no clothes or underwear. Some had wounds and marks showing they had been attacked or strangled.”
The man said that when he refused to do these horrible tasks and threatened to inform the police, his bosses beat him up.“They threatened me, saying things like ‘We will cut you into pieces,’ ‘We will bury you like the other bodies,’ and ‘We will kill your whole family,’” he wrote in his complaint. He also said he was told that the worker before him had “disappeared” after refusing to follow similar orders. The man claimed he had to bury bodies at different places around Dharmasthala. Sometimes, he was ordered to burn them using diesel. He said “hundreds” of bodies were disposed of this way.
Ran away after family was attacked
He said he finally ran away with his family in December 2014 after facing years of threats and fear. He decided to leave after a girl in his family was allegedly sexually assaulted by someone connected to his bosses.
Even after leaving, he lived in constant fear that his family would be killed, just like the other victims. Since then, he has been hiding in another state and living with guilt.
To prove his claims, he said he recently went back to one of the burial sites, dug up a body, and gave the remains and photos to the police. He also submitted his Aadhaar card and old employee ID as proof of his identity.
The man wrote, “I believe the dead deserve a respectful farewell. If the bodies that are being dug up get proper last rites, their souls will find peace, and I will feel less guilty.”
He has offered to show where the bodies are buried and name the people involved, but he asked for protection under the Witness Protection Act, of 2018, before revealing names. He said some of the people involved are linked to the temple administration.
He also said, “Some of the people I have named are very powerful and might kill anyone who goes against them.”
His lawyers said he has already given a sealed complaint with the names to Supreme Court lawyer KV Dhananjay as a safety measure.
Police response
In a statement, the police said they received his complaint and registered a case. The man claimed he was “threatened with death” and “forced to secretly dispose of many bodies” over the years. The police said they would fully investigate, get court permission to dig up the burial sites, and keep his identity secret.
