Bengaluru, 15 July

Karnataka State Women's Commission Chairperson Nagalakshmi Choudhary has urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe cases of disappearances, unnatural deaths, and sexual assaults in Dharmasthala over the past two decades.

Dharmasthala in Dakshina Kannada district is a major pilgrimage centre, and Lord Manjunatha is the prime deity there.

Citing recent media reports and a statement made in court by an individual who claimed that "hundreds of bodies" had been buried in the area, Choudhary described the situation as "deeply alarming, which requires immediate and impartial investigation."

In a letter to the Chief Minister on Monday, Choudhary said, "The Commission has taken serious note of the reports aired by some media outlets on 12 July, 2025, which included claims about the recovery of a human skull. Concerns were raised by the family of a missing medical student. These revelations point towards possible systematic abuse, murder, rape, and unexplained deaths involving women and students."

The chairperson further alleged that numerous families had approached the police in the past regarding missing persons, but many were met with indifference or inadequate response from the authorities.

"There are allegations that police personnel failed to act appropriately when families attempted to register complaints about missing women or unnatural deaths," she stated.

Given the grave nature of the allegations and the possibility of crimes left unaddressed, unresolved for a long time, the Women's Commission has urged the state government to establish an SIT led by senior police officers.

"We request the formation of a high-level SIT to conduct a thorough and unbiased investigation into all cases of missing women and students, unnatural deaths or murders, and sexual assault incidents reported in the Dharmasthala region over the past 20 years," Choudhary said.

The State Government is yet to respond to the Commission's appeal.