Latest news with #Sujatha
NDTV
21-07-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Plea In Supreme Court Against Bengaluru Civil Court's "Gag" Order In Dharmasthala Case
New Delhi: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging a Bengaluru civil court's order restraining the media from sharing "defamatory" content against the brother of Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade. The petition - filed by Third Eye YouTube Channel - in the top court termed the civil court order "unprecedented and profoundly alarming". "It is a frontal assault on the freedom of speech and press (Article 19(1)(a)) and the foundational principles of natural justice and due process (Article 21)," the petition stated. It was filed a day after the Karnataka government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the claims that hundreds of women and girls were allegedly murdered in Dharmasthala - one of the major Hindu pilgrimage centres in Karnataka. The petition arose out of an order by the Bengaluru court on a plea by Harshendra Kumar D, the brother of Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade. It said that media reporting proved to be a public service in this case, as an SIT was formed, noting the coverage of the case by the media. It pointed out that the whistleblower's original complaint, which forms the basis of the FIR, explicitly alleges that "supervisors" and the "Dharmasthala temple administration" threatened him with death and forced him into burying and burning hundreds of bodies. "As core figures within this very administration, the plaintiffs are directly implicated in the scope and direction of this grave criminal investigation," the plea added. The plea also argued that there are direct allegations against them in one Sujatha's complaint for her missing girl-child: "A subsequent, pivotal complaint filed by Smt. Sujatha directly and tragically names both Sri Harshendra Kumar and Dr D Veerendra Heggade. She alleges their personal involvement in verbal abuse, refusing to register her daughter's 2003 disappearance from Dharmasthala, and orchestrating a physical assault against her when she sought answers from the temple authorities." "Crucially, the media's reporting on these chilling allegations was not a malicious act, but a vital public service," it added. The plea argued that the initial FIR (July 4) did not immediately lead to comprehensive state intervention. "It was the sustained media coverage of crime that specifically prompted Smt. Sujatha's complaint (July 15), which explicitly stated that she came forward because she saw the media's coverage. " This irrefutably demonstrates the essential role of a free press in uncovering hidden truths and providing a voice to long-silenced individuals, the plea stated. Along with the removal of the media "gag", the plea further sought an order from the top court that any future defamation case by Harshendra Kumar D and his brother Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade should be heard outside the state, as they are "influential". "Shri Harshendra Kumar serves as executive co-ordinator of Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala and the secretary of its affiliated educational and social organisations. His elder brother, Dr D Veerendra Heggade, is the Dharmadhikari of the temple. Due to these roles, they exercise considerable influence regionally and beyond." The plea read. The petition has argued that the gag order protects those who are directly implicated by the mother of a missing girl. "This order, secured through a calculated abuse of judicial process and material misrepresentation by the plaintiffs, directly obstructs a high-level state criminal investigation into allegations of mass burials and serious crimes linked to the influential Dharmasthala temple," it said, The petition claimed that Sri Harshendra Kumar D held significant positions of authority within the Dharmasthala temple administration and its vast network of associated institutions. The Bengaluru civil court has granted an ex parte injunction to delete or de-index a staggering 8,842 links on the coverage of the allegations made by a sanitation worker that he has buried several bodies in Dharmasthala. These links include coverage by newspapers, TV channels, websites and YouTubers. Several tweets, Facebook posts and Reddit threads by individuals, too, have been mentioned in the petition.
The Hindu
21-07-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
I am keeping my lips zipped about the bet
'Did you find the time to watch the Wimbledon finals on TV?' 'I watched the men's match completely. But when it came to the ladies final, I watched only the first three games before switching off the TV.' 'Only three games? Why is that?' 'It was fairly obvious by then that Swiatek was going to blow away Anisimova.' 'Blow away? What do you mean?' 'The expression 'blow away' has many different meanings. But in the context of sports, it is mostly used to mean to defeat someone comprehensively.' 'In other words, you outperform everyone else. You destroy the competition.' 'I guess you could say that. Here's an example. At this year's Wimbledon, after the second round, Iga Swiatek just blew away her opponents.' 'That's true. After the second round, she didn't lose a set. How about this example? During the first half of the game, the two teams were evenly matched. In the second half, however, our opponent blew us away by scoring seven goals.' 'Ouch! That must have hurt! Anyway, that's a good example. Here's another one. We thought Sindhu would blow away the competition. We were shocked when she lost in the first round.' 'That's what makes every tournament exciting. You know what they say about sports. Expect the unexpected. So, did Sujatha buy you breakfast? After all, you did take a bet with her that Swiatek would win.' 'That's true. But Sujatha is going through a tough time. Lots of problems at the office. So, I'm keeping my lips zipped about the bet.' 'Keeping your lips zipped? Does it mean the same thing as 'keeping your lips buttoned'?' 'Very good. When you keep your lips zipped, what you are doing is keeping quiet. You're not opening your mouth about some matter. The Manager was angry and wasn't willing to listen to reason. So, I decided to keep my lips zipped.' 'Keeping one's lips buttoned is the best thing to do when someone is angry.' 'Exactly! There's so much corruption in this office. I can't keep my lips zipped, I'm afraid. So, how are things at your office? Heard you're getting a new boss.' 'That's true. He'll be joining us in a week or two.' 'A week or two? That's a long time! What are you guys going to be doing in the meanwhile?' 'What we've been doing the past few days, I suppose! Sleepwalk through the workday.' 'Sleepwalk through the day? What are you talking about?' 'Do you know what sleepwalk means?' 'Of course, I do! Doesn't it mean to walk in one's sleep?' 'That's right! I'm told I used to sleepwalk when I was a kid.' 'I believe my uncle sleepwalks even now. He's nearly 70.' 'Sleepwalk has other meanings as well. It's frequently used in informal contexts to mean to say something without really thinking.' 'And you're not thinking because you're asleep! Since your mind is not functioning or has been switched off, you're not really worried about the consequences of what you do or say.' 'Very good! Some of my colleagues are of the opinion that America is sleepwalking itself into a financial crisis.' 'How about this example? Last night, I saw a movie where most of the actors sleepwalked through their roles.' 'So, what you're suggesting is that the actors were wooden. There was little or no life in their acting.' 'Yes.'
India Today
17-07-2025
- Politics
- India Today
What is the Dharmasthala mass-burial case and the horror stories of skeletons
"Many of the female bodies were without clothing or underwear. Some bore clear signs of sexual assault and violence: wounds or strangulation that indicated violence... More than 100 women, including students, were raped, murdered and buried...," wrote a former sanitation worker from Karnataka's Dharmasthala in a complaint dated June 3, accompanied by photo evidence of skeletal remains.A week later, the worker, who had requested anonymity, appeared in a court under heavy police protection, his body wrapped from head to toe with only a transparent strip over the eyes to help him navigate. He had come to testify about the allegations he made in his letter, claiming he was forced to dispose of over a hundred murder victims, many of them women who, he alleged, were sexually assaulted, between 1998 and complaint (with pictographic evidence) and testimony has blown the lid off what victim families and activists have long tried to expose: a series of chilling crimes buried in silence. The silence of decades is because the Lord Manjunatha shrine, which is at the heart of Dharmasthala town, is managed by an influential family. The former sanitation worker claimed that some of the perpetrators were linked to the temple is an important pilgrimage centre in Karnataka, drawing believers even from outside the whistle-blower sanitation worker was on the payroll of the shrine the dark truth surfaced earlier in the 2012 Sowjanya rape-murder case, the latest revelations by the sanitation worker have reignited urgent demands for a thorough investigation. Calls for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the Dharmasthala mass burials have now intensified, with two senior advocates formally joining the appeal for a fair, independent latest call for justice coincides with a renewed push from the family of Ananya Bhat, a first-year MBBS student who went missing in 2003 during a college trip to 60-year-old mother, Sujatha, a former stenographer with the CBI, lodged a fresh complaint at the Dharmasthala Police Station on July that her daughter may be among the unidentified victims mentioned in the sanitation worker's testimony, Sujatha's plea adds urgency to growing demands for an SIT probe into the alleged Dharmasthala mass IN SCHOOL UNIFORM, STRIPPED OF DIGNITY: WHISTLEBLOWER'S CHILLING ACCOUNTThe former sanitation worker, from the Dalit community, who worked for the Dharmasthala temple administration from 1995 to 2014, filed his explosive complaint on July 3 with the Dharmasthala the letter, he alleged that over nearly two decades, he was coerced into burying or burning the bodies of numerous victims, many of them women and minors, who bore signs of sexual assault and brutal to his complaint, he was regularly threatened with death if he refused to comply, with supervisors warning, "We will cut you into pieces, your body will be buried like the rest".Some of the burials, the whistleblower claimed, were carried out on the banks of the holy Netravathi River, sites chosen, he alleged, to ensure the bodies would remain undetected and decompose quickly in the soft, damp one haunting detail, the whistleblower said he was forced to bury a schoolgirl, aged between 12 and 15, in 2010 near a petrol bunk in Kalleri. The girl's body, then clad in her school uniform with the skirt and innerwear missing, showed marks of sexual assault and strangulation, reported The New Indian Express, earlier in incident involved a 20-year-old woman whose face was burned with acid, her body wrapped in newspaper, and instructions given for it to be burnt using sanitation worker's complaint, backed by photographs of skeletal remains he claims he was forced to exhume secretly, and submitted to the police, paints a disturbing picture of a long-running sanitation worker fled Dharmasthala overnight in December 2014 after a minor girl in his own family was allegedly sexually assaulted by someone linked to his supervisors. After spending years in hiding in neighbouring states, he returned, risking his life, driven by a deep sense of guilt and a renewed determination to seek complainant said after he dug up the skeletal remains, he submitted the photos to the police along with his Aadhaar card, and an old employee ID to establish the bodies that are being exhumed are given a proper funeral, the souls of those who have suffered will find peace and my sense of guilt will also be reduced... I believe the deceased deserves a respectful farewell..." the worker was quoted as saying in the letter, expressing a personal need for to cooperate further, he has offered to identify additional burial sites and name the perpetrators, but only under the protection guaranteed by the Witness Protection Act, claimed that some of the perpetrators in the rape-murders were linked to the temple administration and held considerable influence."Some of the persons I have named are very influential and have a tendency to eliminate those who oppose them," he wrote, expressing fear for his a precaution, the whistleblower's legal counsel confirmed that he has also submitted a sealed envelope naming the accused to Supreme Court advocate KV Dhananjay, in the event that he is silenced or TEMPLE TOWN SHAKEN BY DARK ALLEGATIONSDharmasthala, a popular pilgrimage town, is located in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district. It is even visited by top politicians, celebrities and it is perhaps the only prominent shrine where Hindu priests conduct their rituals, while the temple administration is overseen by the Jain community, according to senior crime journalist Shams Tahir Khan, the managing editor of Crime Tak, India Today Digital's sister the Dharmasthala is administered by a Jain Heggade Rajya Sabha MP Veerendra Heggade is the current hereditary administrator of the Dharmasthala temple town, situated about 75 km from Mangaluru, is a spiritual hub, attracting thousands of devotees the whistleblower's allegations point to a darker underbelly, implicating powerful individuals allegedly connected to the temple administration. While the complainant has not named specific perpetrators, citing fear for his life, he has indicated that "powerful persons" were behind the crimes and has promised to reveal their identities once granted protection under the MLA Arvind Bellad dismissed the mass-burial allegations in Dharmasthala, made by the former sanitation worker, as "baseless"."Anyone who knows about the good work being done in Dharmasthala will understand that these allegations of mass burials are baseless. If at all such allegations exist, the government will investigate them," Bellad, who represents the Hubli-Dharwad West constituency, told India Today TV on the allegations have stirred unease in a town synonymous with spiritual legacy. The complainant's claims of being assaulted and threatened suggest a culture of intimidation claims of the involvement of influential people have fuelled demands for an independent probe, as locals and activists fear that local authorities might be pressured to suppress the investigation.A DECADE AFTER SOWJANYA, ALLEGATIONS OF COVER-UPS RESURFACEFollowing the complaint by the former sanitation worker, the Dakshina Kannada police registered a case on July 4 under Section 211(a) of the BNS.A week later, on July 13, the whistleblower, his entire body covered to conceal his identity and protect his family, appeared before the Principal Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate First Class in Belthangady to record his sanitation worker's revelations are not the first time Dharmsthala has been linked to allegations of violence, assault, rape, murder and 2012, the rape and murder of 17-year-old Sowjanya, a student in Dharmasthala, shocked the case, which remains unresolved, became a rallying point for activists demanding justice. The initial Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe her case was widely criticised for its handling, with allegations of mishandled evidence and failure to pursue influential case's outcome left the region unsettled, with many believing justice was denied due to interference by powerful 2012 case highlighted a pattern of alleged police inaction, as families reported being dismissed or intimidated when attempting to file instance, Sujatha, the woman whose daughter Ananya disappeared, claimed the police had initially declined to register her complaint. The police said her daughter had claimed she then approached Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade and his brother Sri Harshendra Kumar, but was subjected to verbal abuse and told to mother, Sujatha, has offered to undergo a polygraph test and has requested that Heggade and Kumar do the same, adding that they might possess critical reports have fuelled distrust in local authorities, amplifying calls for a high-level SIT to investigate not only the recent allegations but also decades-old cases of missing women, unnatural deaths, and sexual assaults in chief of Karnataka State Commission for Women, Nagalakshmi Choudhary, in a letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on July 14, highlighted allegations that police often failed to respond adequately when families reported missing persons or deaths, suggesting systemic issues in the region's law enforcement.A group of advocates on July 16 met Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and submitted a memorandum demanding an SIT probe, monitored by a sitting or retired judge. They demanded the appointment of an ADGP-level officer to head the SIT, the inclusion of a dedicated FSL team, video recording of the investigation, thorough crime scene analysis, and immediate arrest and custodial interrogation of all involved, regardless of their the gravity of the alleged crimes, the advocates, in the memorandum to Siddaramaiah, stated that the "distressing information" pointed to the involvement of "highly influential" and "powerful personalities" with significant political clout, reported news agency sanitation worker's testimony has reignited a firestorm of demands for justice, with the skeletons he unearthed, both literal and figurative, laying bare a potential web of systemic violence and cover-up in Dharmasthala. Advocates Ojaswi Gowda and Sachin Deshpande have echoed the call for justice, highlighting the "disastrous SIT investigation in the Sowjanya case".Now, after years of fear and intimidation, the whistleblower's revelations have galvanised activists, families, and legal professionals. Calls for a fresh police probe with "unimpeachable integrity" are becoming louder. Only a free and fair probe will reveal if the allegations of mass rape-murders and a cover-up levelled by the former sanitation worker have any basis at all.- Ends
India Today
16-07-2025
- India Today
Dharmasthala horror: Worker alleges rape, murder cover-up with 100s of bodies
A former sanitation worker from Dharmasthala, Karnataka, has filed a complaint alleging he was forced to dispose of hundreds of bodies between 1995 and 2014. In his complaint filed on July 4, he claims the temple administration coerced him into disposing of corpses found near the Netravathi River, many of which he says appeared to be women who were raped and murdered. He stated, "When I refused to obey, I was beaten and threatened. I was told we will cut you into pieces." The allegations are being examined against the backdrop of the Sojourner case. A second complaint has been filed by Sujatha, the mother of Ananya Bhatt, an MBBS student who went missing in Dharamsthala in 2003. Twelve days after an FIR was registered based on the worker's complaint, the Dakshina Kannada Police have yet to begin exhumation.
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Time of India
New twist in Dharmasthala horror: Mother seeks probe in 2003 MBBS student's disappearance; assault, silence, fear haunt her
MANGALURU: Days after chilling allegations emerged in Dharmasthala about the disposal of bodies of sexual abuse and murder victims, a new complaint has surfaced. On Tuesday evening, Sujatha Bhat, mother of medical student Ananya Bhat who went missing in 2003, filed a fresh plea with Dharmasthala police demanding a thorough investigation into her daughter's mysterious disappearance. Speaking to reporters in Mangaluru, Sujatha said she has been living in fear for over two decades. 'If any remains are recovered and a DNA match confirms it's my daughter, I will at least be able to perform her last rites so hersoul finds peace,' she added. Ananya, a first-year MBBS student in a college in Manipal, had travelled to Dharmasthala with her friends in 2003. She never returned. 'I was working in Kolkata in 2003,' Sujatha said. Got little support in search: Mom At the time, I was in Kolkata for work. I rushed back and began searching for her,' Sujatha said. She also claimed she got very little support in her search for her missing daughter. 'After being turned away by Belthangady police, I went to Dharmasthala where I was assaulted... I regained consciousness in a hospital.'
