SIT asks Dharmasthala ‘burial witness’ to lodge complaint

THe special investigating team up ( sit around) probing the Dharmasthala mass interment caseful on Sunday asked a man claiming to have witnessed the illegal burial of a teenage girl’s decomposed body to lodge a formal complaint with the local police as an investigation can only be initiated once a case is registered at the jurisdictional police station.A senior officer said, “The SIT is not a police station. We cannot take direct complaints. We investigate based on cases filed with the local police and then record statements.”The witness, Jayanth, a 48-year-old social activist from Ichlampady village in Puttur taluk, met with SIT officials at their Belthangady office on Saturday. He was asked to return to the SIT on Monday once he has filed a formal complaint.Speaking to reporters, Jayanth said, “I have seen that girl’s body, and it was buried without following any legal procedures. I know the spot where her body was buried. I do not know whether the girl was murdered, but her body was in a slightly decomposed state.”He claimed the burial occurred 15 years ago and alleged that fear had kept many from speaking out. “Few more people will come forward to share similar disturbing experiences in the coming days before the SIT,” he said.Jayanth also told a local news channel that he is related to Padmalatha, a woman whose body was found nearly two months after she went missing in December 1986.“We have not got justice for the murder of Padmalatha in the past. So we had lost faith in this system. Now, as an SIT has been formed to investigate the old case, we have gained faith. So I am filing a complaint. I am a witness to the girl being buried,” he said.The SIT was formed after a former sanitation worker alleged he was forced to bury multiple bodies in Dharmasthala, including those of women and girls who may have been sexually assaulted. Skeletal remains have so far been recovered from one of the eight sites identified, with excavation ongoing at five more locations.To assist in the probe, the SIT has launched a public helpline. Information can be shared by calling 0824 2005301, sending a WhatsApp message to 8277986369.Meanwhile, the lawyer for Sujatha Bhat , mother of missing MBBS student Ananya Bhat, has asked the SIT to use ground penetrating radar (GPR) for deeper scans to identify potential burial sites.“As the witness himself has stated, he left Dharmasthala in 2014. The region sees heavy rainfall, and the forest terrain may have shifted over the years. Landmarks the witness recalls might have changed,” advocate N Manjunath said in a statement.SIT has not issued any comments on this.