Indian police arrest man after Dharmasthala burial claims trigger major investigation

# Indian police arrest man after Dharmasthala burial claims trigger major investigation

Police in India have arrested a man whose claims that he was forced to bury the bodies of raped and murdered women set off a sprawling investigation in the temple town of Dharmasthala, Karnataka.

A Special Investigation Team official told the BBC that the man had been arrested for perjury. The arrest followed weeks of public attention on his allegations, which had prompted the state government to order a criminal probe after concerns were raised by the women's commission.

The man, whose identity has been withheld, said in a police complaint seen by the BBC that he had worked as a cleaner at the temple from 1995 to 2014. He alleged that he had been forced to bury the bodies of hundreds of girls and young women who were brutally raped and murdered, and said some of the victims were minors. He also claimed he had been in hiding since 2014 before coming forward because of his conscience.

The allegations caused turmoil in a town that is home to a centuries-old temple dedicated to Manjunatha Swamy, an incarnation of Shiva, and that attracts large numbers of pilgrims every day. The temple sits at the centre of local life, which made the claims especially explosive.

Investigators spent several weeks excavating sites around Dharmasthala to test the man's account. He initially identified 13 locations, some in difficult terrain covered by dense foliage and reportedly infested with venomous snakes. According to BBC reporting, sources in the SIT confirmed that human remains, including a skull and nearly 100 bone fragments, were found at two locations and sent for forensic testing. It remains unclear who the remains belong to.

The arrest adds a new layer to a case already marked by tension between the temple administration and the complainant. The temple chief rejected the allegations as false and baseless. When the man appeared before a magistrate, he produced a human skull from his bag, saying it came from one of the burial sites. An SIT official said the skull and skeletal remains were not from the places he claimed.

The case has also drawn political and institutional scrutiny because of the influence of the Heggade family, which serves as hereditary administrator of the temple. Veerendra Heggade, who received India's second-highest civilian award in 2015, welcomed the investigation in a statement to the BBC and said the temple would cooperate.

For now, the central question is whether the complainant's extraordinary account can survive scrutiny. The investigation was launched to verify his claims, and the arrest for perjury suggests police believe some of his statements were false. At the same time, the discovery of remains means the case may continue to raise difficult questions about what happened at the sites under examination and what, if anything, can be proven.

The Dharmasthala case has already moved beyond a local dispute. It has become a test of how Indian authorities handle highly charged accusations, forensic evidence and the public impact of claims that touch a revered religious institution.