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SIT finds skeleton at 6th site in Dharmasthala: What is the mass burial case?
The remains could be the first concrete evidence in the Dharmasthala mass burial case.
Partial human remains were discovered at the sixth site dug by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the mass burial case in Dharmasthala, a town in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. The remains could be the first concrete evidence in the mass burials case.
The SIT has, previously, dug five sites at locations identified by the complainant in the case. However, this was the first to provide a breakthrough in the case.
What is the Dharmasthala mass burial case?
The case originated from an FIR filed by a former sanitation worker, the complainant in the case, on July 4. In his complaint, he alleged that he had been forced to bury several bodies when he was working in Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014. The village is located in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada district.
The complaint states that many of the deceased who were buried were allegedly victims of sexual violence and murder. The complainant claimed that his own relative had been assaulted, thus resulting in him fleeing from the town.
The SIT took over the probe from the local police on July 25, and has initiated the digging of sites identified by the former sanitation worker. The team is also focusing on verifying the complainant's narrative.
“There are inconsistencies in his version of events. Before proceeding further, we need to establish a coherent timeline and verify the facts," an officer had said earlier.
Advocate N Manjunath, who represents Sujata Bhat, mother of a missing medical student, said that the SIT had made progress in the case, having recovered items like a pan card and two ATM cards.
The advocate stated that the complainant had also identified another critical site, which allegedly contains the largest number of burials. However, the site will be dug at a later phase, with the SIT currently targeting 13 spots.
The SIT has opted to videograph the entire exhumation process as part of the official documentation.
