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Dharmasthala burials: What did Bengaluru woman Sujatha Bhat claim that triggered the probe?
Fresh twist unfolded in the Dharmasthala mass burials case as Sujatha Bhat retracted her claims, saying activists pushed her to allege her daughter vanished.
Sujatha Bhat, a woman from Bengaluru who had previously alleged that her daughter had gone missing in Dharmasthala in 2003 – a claim that sparked controversy over mass burials, has now admitted that she fabricated the entire story, stating that there was never any daughter named Ananya Bhat.
“It is not true. There was never any daughter named Ananya Bhat,” Sujatha Bhat claimed.
A fresh twist unfolded on Friday after she withdrew her claims, conceding that her account had been invented. Speaking to a YouTube channel, Sujatha explained why she had made the allegations concerning Dharmasthala.
She disclosed that she had been persuaded by activists Girish Mattannavar and T Jayanti to allege that her daughter Ananya had disappeared in Dharmasthala in 2003.
"Some people told me to say it. I was asked to do it because of the property issue. That’s the only reason,” she said when asked why she had made such a statement.
In her remarks on Friday, however, she attempted to distance herself from the earlier allegations. Recognising the anger her account had provoked, she appealed to the public: “Yes, for the people of Karnataka, for the devotees of Dharmasthala... I ask the people of this state, and the whole country, to forgive me...” She stressed that her actions were not motivated by money. “I never needed money...”
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What did she claim earlier?
In her original complaint, Sujatha Bhat alleged that her daughter Ananya, an 18-year-old medical student, went missing during a visit to Dharmasthala in May 2003. She claimed Ananya’s friends had gone shopping while she stayed near the temples, but they were gone when they returned.
Sujatha also told police she had been abducted, tied up, threatened not to revisit Dharmasthala, assaulted, and left in a coma before being treated at a private hospital in Bengaluru.
Her dramatic account triggered allegations of mass burials, missing women and sexual assault against the temple authorities, leading the Karnataka government to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT). Sujatha has now withdrawn her statements and asked the public for forgiveness.
Complainant who claimed mass burials arrested by SIT
The complainant, who alleged mass murders, rapes and secret burials in Dharmasthala over the past two decades, was arrested on Saturday by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), according to official sources.
SIT chief Pranab Mohanty had questioned him late on Friday, and officials said his arrest followed discrepancies in his testimony and documents.
The man, a former sanitation worker who claimed to have been employed in Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014, alleged he was compelled to bury numerous bodies, including those of women and children, some showing evidence of sexual assault.
He had also recorded a statement before a magistrate.
