The Karnataka government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate allegations of multiple murders, sexual assaults, and missing women cases in the Dharmasthala region of Dakshina Kannada district over the past two decades. The order to form the SIT, dated July 19, 2025, was shared with the press on Sunday.

The SIT will be led by Pranav Mohanty, Director General of Police (DGP), Internal Security Division. The team also includes M. N. Anucheth, DIG, Police Recruitment, Soumyalatha, DCP, City Armed Reserve (CAR), and Jitendra Kumar Dayama, SP, Internal Security Division. The SIT will operate using resources from the Dakshina Kannada District Police Office and will provide regular updates to the DGP.

The move to form the SIT follows a letter from Nagalakshmi Choudhary, Chairperson of the Karnataka State Women's Commission. Choudhary cited a court statement by an individual claiming that "hundreds of bodies were buried in the Dharmasthala area". The Commission also noted media reports about the discovery of a human skull and statements from the family of a missing medical student. The Commission stated that these reports, along with the court testimony, suggest a "disturbing pattern of abuse, unnatural deaths, and disappearances of women and female students spanning more than 20 years".

The case initially stemmed from a complaint filed by a former sanitation worker at a temple in Dharmasthala. The worker claimed to have buried and burned hundreds of bodies of women who were allegedly sexually assaulted over more than a decade. He also exhumed one of the bodies and handed it over to the police. Adding to the complexity, a woman from Bengaluru recently reported that her daughter, an MBBS student in Manipal, disappeared after visiting Dharmasthala Temple in 2003.

A case has already been registered under Section 211(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Dharmasthala Police Station. The SIT is authorized to investigate the current case and all related cases registered or to be registered in other police stations across the state. The Director General of Police (DGP) will assign these cases to the SIT and provide the necessary personnel.

Dharmasthala, known for the revered Manjunatha temple, is now under scrutiny, with allegations of sexual violence, land grabs, and attacks on Dalit families. Activists claim that many killings occurred in broad daylight and were covered up. The Heggades of Dharmasthala, a powerful local family, have long held religious and cultural authority in the region. D Veerendra Heggade, the head of the family, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the BJP in 2022.

The formation of the SIT has been welcomed by activists and the State Women's Commission, who have been demanding an impartial probe into the allegations. Lawyers involved in the case had also requested an SIT led by Mr. Mohanty.