Indian man exposes sexual violence against women at Karnataka temple

A 48-year-old Dalit man, who worked at the Dharmasthala Temple in India’s Karnataka state, has made heartbreaking revelations about a series of horrific crimes against women, claiming they took place over a span of nearly two decades, making it one of the darkest cases of gender violence in the country’s history.

According to Indian media, the former sweeper, who worked at the temple for 20 years, recently filed a police complaint on the condition of anonymity.

““I can no longer bear the burden of memories of the murders I witnessed, the continuous death threats to bury the corpses I received,” the whistleblower told the police.

The complaint alleged that the bodies of multiple rape victims, including women and schoolgirls, were secretly buried and burned without any legal action or investigation.

The former temple employee, who belongs to the Dalit community, said he was forced to dispose of the bodies between 1995 and 2014. He further revealed that as early as his first days at the temple, he noticed women’s bodies appearing along the nearby river, many showing signs of sexual violence, physical abuse, and strangulation.

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When he reported it to his supervisors at the temple, he was threatened into silence.

For nearly two decades, the whistleblower alleges he was repeatedly called upon to dispose of bodies, mostly of minor girls. In 2014, he managed to escape and went into hiding, haunted by guilt and fear. It took him almost 12 years to muster the courage to speak out.

Police officials confirmed that the complainant submitted photographic evidence of human remains and has named several influential figures allegedly involved in the cover-up.

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The temple administration has called for a transparent investigation into the allegations. As per reports, women and girls had been mysteriously disappearing from the area for years, but their concerns were consistently ignored by authorities.

The temple, which sees nearly 2000 pilgrims daily and has even been visited by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has previously been embroiled in controversies involving the violence against women, dating back to the 1970s.