Bengaluru, 26 Nov

Representatives of Kondavaru Yaaru: Who Killed the Women in Dharmasthala met Pranab Mohanty, Chief of the SIT that probed the mass burial allegations, on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum urging the government to protect witnesses.

The representatives are part of a campaign launched to demand justice for the deaths and disappearances in the temple town.

“A systematic investigation was required to answer some fundamental questions regarding the unnaturally high numbers of unnatural deaths in the region; why police investigations into these deaths, disappearances and rapes have been consistently shoddy and half-hearted; why the disappearances and unexplained deaths of witnesses in many of these cases have not been investigated; and why the local authorities have ignored glaring patterns over the years and failed to address the issue,” the letter said.

The delegation urged the SIT to immediately put in place measures that would enable victims, survivors, witnesses and families to come forward without fear of reprisals, allowing them to provide evidence and statements that would strengthen the investigations.

They also urged the government to reinvestigate past cases, including the Soujanya case.