Panel urges CM to form SIT in Dharmasthala case

Karnataka State Commission for Women chairperson Nagalakshmi Chowdhury on Monday urged chief minister Siddaramaiah to form a special investigation team (SIT) to probe allegations of mass graves, disappearances, and crimes against women and students in Dharmasthala over the past two decades.

- Arun Dev

This comes in the wake of a court deposition by a daily- ‘wage labourer, who under tight security on Friday claimed that he had personally buried more than 100 bodies in and around Dharmasthala. His identity has been withheld due to security concerns.

In a letter, Chowdhury said: “In connection with the above subject and statement, a person has recorded a statement in court claiming to have buried hundreds of bodies in the Dharmasthala region.”

She noted that the Women’s Commission had taken serious note of both the court statement and media reports aired on July 12, which mentioned the discovery of a human skull and included comments from the family of a missing medical student.

“The Commission has taken the media report and the statement of the man who claimed to have buried bodies very seriously,” she wrote.