Burial of bodies in Dharmastala: Complainant produces some skeletal remains

The person, who claims to have buried many persons who were murdered and raped in Dharmastala, on Friday (July 11, 2025), July 11, produced before the Principal Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate First Class, Belthangady court, some of the skeletal remains of the bodies that he claimed to have exhumed on his own. He also gave a statement before the Magistrate.

In a statement here, the Dakshina Kannada district police said they seized the body parts in front of advocates representing the complainant and ‘panch’ witnesses.

The complainant, who claims to have worked as a sanitary worker in Dharmastala between 1995 and December 2014, filed a complaint on July 3, stating that he was forced to bury many bodies in Dharmastala a decade ago. These bodies were of both men and women, who were allegedly murdered and raped.

While asking police to conduct an inquiry into those deaths by exhuming the remains, the complainant sought police protection. He also offered to show police the places where he claims to have buried bodies. The bodies included those, which according to him, were murdered in a “cruel manner” before him.

After taking permission of the court, the Dharmastala police registered for offence under section 211 (a) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on July 4. As requested by the complainant not to reveal his identity, the police did not reveal his name. The police did not post the FIR on the Karnataka Police’s FIR portal.

On Friday (July 11, 2025), the complainant came to the Magistrate court along with a team of advocates. A mask was placed on his face of the complainant as he entered the court. The Magistrate recorded his statement by sending advocates out from the court hall.

Inquiry

The police said advocates representing the complainant have posted the FIR and also released press note, which gave details including the age, nature and period of work, place of work, in the social media.

These details have led to many locals, narrowing down on the identity of the complainant. This was despite the complainant seeking identity protection, which led police to maintain the identity undisclosed for all official purposes. A separate inquiry by Deputy Superintendent of Police has been initiated on the advocates of complainant.

The protection of the complainant was approved by the competent authority in the district on Thursday (July 10, 2025) and it has come into immediate effect, the police stated.