Dharmasthala Mass Burial Case: According to police sources, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) looking into the suspected mass burial case in Dharmasthala on Monday found more skeletal remains at a new location that the anonymous complaint had suggested. The SIT stopped exhumations at the 11th site and moved operations to Banglegudde. It is a hitherto unexplored location under the direction of Director General of Police Pranab Mohanty. Numerous skeleton fragments, including skulls and other human bones, have been found at the new location. The location is situated on an elevated terrain that is almost 100 feet high.
What is the Dharmasthala Mass Burial Case?
The Dharmasthala Mass Burial Case relates to claims made by a former sanitation worker who said he buried bodies between 1995 and 2014. He was given orders to bury many dead bodies close to the river. Dead bodies including those of women and girls he suspected of having been sexually assaulted. In relation to these allegations, he was recorded making a statement in front of a magistrate. The complaint provided thorough details of each site while escorting representatives from many government agencies to designated areas on July 28.
On July 3, a formal complaint was submitted, and the following day, an FIR was registered. In order to identify the found remains and ascertain whether there are more burial locations beyond the ones that have already been indicated, the SIT started its field investigation on July 11.
The Critical Witness Allegedly Threatened by a SIT Officer
There are new questions regarding the investigation’s objectivity when a police officer who is a member of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) looking into the mass burial case was accused of intimidating a crucial protected witness. Advocate Ananya Gowda has filed a formal complaint with the SIT on behalf of the complainant. He is known as “X” for his protection. The witness was allegedly intimidated by Inspector Manjunath Gowda of the Sirsi Rural Police station on the Evening of August 1 at the SIT camp in Belthangady. It is stated according to the complaint.
According to the report, Inspector Manjunath Gowda called “X” into a private room and threatened to arrest and jail him. Threatened him in relation to the first case that was filed at the Dharmasthala police station. Additionally, he is charged with persuading the witness to take back the original testimony and accuse anonymous “outsiders” of starting the complaint.
The Criticism
Various Jain communities have expressed their disapproval of the case. The Navagraha Teertha in Hubballi, led by Sri Gunadhar Nandi Maharaj, voiced concerns over purported defamatory statements linking Jain rulers to the alleged atrocities that are being circulated on social media.
“Miscreants have begun to defame the legacy of Jain rulers by accusing them of taking advantage of women. They are using the Dharmasthala case as a pretext,” he stated. This is really insulting in addition to being unfounded. No historical document or inscription mentions the atrocities committed by Jain monarchs. We are being demonised without justification. In addition to saying that Jain leaders will gather in Varur on August 10 to lodge their complaint. He has asked the Karnataka government to take action against those responsible for its dissemination.
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