Revelations from Karnataka’s Belthangady have sparked public fury after it emerged that police deliberately deleted crucial records of unnatural deaths between 2000 and 2015. This period overlaps with alarming claims of illegal mass burials in Dharmasthala, now at the center of a growing scandal. The fresh outrage follows a formal complaint submitted by RTI activist Jayanth to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), in which he details witnessing the illegal burial of a young girl without any adherence to legal procedures. He alleges that several officials were present during the incident, and the burial was carried out in a manner typically reserved for animals.
The complaint, filed on August 2, accuses the Belthangady police of systematically deleting entries from the Unnatural Death Register (UDR), along with missing person reports, photographs, postmortem records, wall posters, and other critical identification materials. Jayanth highlighted that the police claimed these documents were discarded under routine administrative protocols—an explanation that raises suspicions given the digital era’s standard practice of maintaining electronic backups.
He expressed concern that the destruction of these documents makes it nearly impossible to match any recovered skeletal remains with missing persons, thereby obstructing justice and concealing possible crimes. According to Jayanth, the erasure of these records is not just administrative negligence but could be part of a deliberate cover-up involving sexual assault, illegal burials, and systemic abuse. His statement that "they buried the body like one would bury a dog" underscores the gravity of the alleged violations.
The SIT is reportedly preparing to register a formal FIR and initiate exhumation proceedings based on the complaint. This could lead to a full-scale investigation involving forensic analysis, retrieval of digital backups, and interrogation of officials involved during the period in question. The case has cast a dark shadow over the functioning of the Belthangady police, especially as it coincides with earlier whistleblower accounts alleging that from 1998 to 2014, multiple women and minors—many bearing signs of sexual violence—were buried or cremated illegally without due process.
The incident has now taken on a broader significance, not only as a possible case of criminal cover-up but also as a failure of institutional safeguards that should protect the vulnerable and uphold justice. Demands are growing for accountability, a transparent inquiry, and swift legal action against those who may have participated in or enabled these alleged crimes.
