Silent March, Loud Demand: Thousands Seek Answers for Dharmasthala’s Lost Women
Belthangady, Dakshina Kannada—In a powerful display of collective grief and resolve, thousands of women converged on the streets of Belthangady on Monday, their silent march and black masks marking a stark contrast to the decades of unanswered questions surrounding the repeated rape, disappearance, and unnatural deaths of women in the revered pilgrimage town of Dharmasthala.
Held on Nirbhaya Day, the anniversary of the 2012 Delhi gang rape that galvanised a nation, the rally and subsequent Women’s Justice Convention aimed to shatter a long-standing culture of silence. Organised by the statewide movement ‘Kondavaru Yaaru’ (Who Killed the Women?), the mobilisation brought together victims’ families, activists, and citizens from across Karnataka demanding truth, justice, and systemic accountability.
ಮೌನ ಮೆರವಣಿಗೆ, ಉತ್ತರವಿಲ್ಲದ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳು: ಧರ್ಮಸ್ಥಳದ ಕುಡಿ ಕನ್ಯೆಯರಿಗೆ ನ್ಯಾಯ ಕೋರಿದ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಮಹಿಳೆಯರು
A Pattern of Unnatural Deaths
The movement, born in August alongside the establishment of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe these crimes, challenges what it calls an entrenched system of “silence, fear, complicity, and impunity.” Citing grim statistics, speaker Mallige Sirimane highlighted that RTI data reveals the region’s rate of so-called “unnatural deaths”—often classified as suicides, accidental drownings, or drug-related—is two to three times the national average.
“Our struggle here is part of a continuum, from Hathras to Hassan and Bijapur to Belthangady,” Sirimane stated, linking the local fight to a national crisis of gender violence. She emphasised that justice must extend beyond known victims like Vedavalli, Padmalatha, and Soujanya to countless unnamed women whose deaths never entered public discourse.
Families Define Justice, System Faces Scrutiny
For the bereaved families, justice is both personal and profoundly societal. Soundarya, sister of Soujanya who was raped and murdered in 2012, offered a simple yet profound measure: “Justice is that after my sister’s murder, the deaths of women have reduced and more girls are able to walk these streets without fear.”
Other speakers questioned the glaring disparity in institutional response. Jyothi A, a member of the movement, contrasted the swift action and legal reforms following the Nirbhaya case with the inertia in Dharmasthala. Drawing from her experience on the 2016 Ugrappa Committee, she noted that while senior police acknowledged over 100 unnatural deaths annually in the region, they failed to explain why. “Is impunity persisting because perpetrators here are protected by power and influence?” she asked.
Sashikala Shetty of the Justice for Soujanya movement saw hope in the massive gathering itself: “Justice is that today thousands of people have come together to ask who has killed these women and why justice has been delayed for so long.”
A Call for Truth and Transformation
The convention transcended calls for mere punitive action, framing justice as a catalyst for deep social change. Dalit poet and activist Du Saraswathi delivered a stirring performance, declaring, “We are asking not only for the buried bodies to be recovered, but also for the truth buried with them. We will keep asking because we are alive, and the breath of those who died lives within us.”
The movement’s concept of justice, as outlined by Sirimane, includes “a deep social transformation rooted in dignity, equality, and coexistence.”
A Charter of Demands
The day culminated with the submission of memorandums to the Tahsildar and the SIT, listing urgent demands. These include ensuring the SIT’s independence and transparency, a comprehensive re-investigation of all past unresolved cases, and robust witness protection for complainants.
The memorandums also called for action against officials guilty of negligence, enhanced safety measures for women in public and religious spaces, mandatory Internal Complaints Committees in all religious institutions, and crackdowns on the online harassment of women seeking justice.
By framing its struggle within the broader Indian women’s movement and backing emotional testimony with hard data, ‘Kondavaru Yaaru’ has elevated a long-ignored local tragedy into a pressing test of the state’s commitment to the rule of law and gender justice. The silent masks in Belthangady spoke a universal question: How many more women must be lost before the system listens?
Key Quotes:
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Mallige Sirimane (Kondavaru Yaaru): “Our struggle here is part of a continuum, from Hathras to Hassan… Justice must include a deep social transformation rooted in dignity, equality, and coexistence.”
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Soundarya (Soujanya’s sister): “Justice is that after my sister’s murder, the deaths of women have reduced and more girls are able to walk these streets without fear.”
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Du Saraswathi (Activist & Poet): “We are asking not only for the buried bodies to be recovered, but also for the truth buried with them. We will keep asking and asking till we get answers.”
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ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಶಿರಿಮನೆ (ಕೊಂಡವರು ಯಾರು): “ನಮ್ಮ ಹೋರಾಟವು ಹಠ್ರಸ್ಗಿಂತ ಹಾಸನಕ್ಕೆ… ನ್ಯಾಯವು ಗೌರವ, ಸಮಾನತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಸಹಜೀವನದ ಆಳವಾದ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಬದಲಾವಣೆಯನ್ನು ಒಳಗೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕು.”
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ಸೌಂದರ್ಯ (ಸೌಜನ್ಯಳ ಸಹೋದರಿ): “ನ್ಯಾಯ ಎಂದರೆ ನನ್ನ ಸಹೋದರಿಯ ಕೊಲೆಯ ನಂತರ, ಮಹಿಳೆಯರ ಸಾವು ಕಡಿಮೆಯಾಗಿದೆ ಮತ್ತು ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಹುಡುಗಿಯರು ಭಯವಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಈ ಬೀದಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯಬಹುದು.”
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ದು. ಸರಸ್ವತಿ (ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಕಾರ್ಯಕರ್ತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಕವಯಿತ್ರಿ): “ನಾವು ಮಣ್ಣು ಮಾಡಿದ ದೇಹಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾತ್ರ ಪುನಃ ಪಡೆಯಲು ಕೇಳುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ, ಅವರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಹೂತುಹಾಕಲಾದ ಸತ್ಯಕ್ಕಾಗಿಯೂ ಕೇಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇವೆ. ನಮಗೆ ಉತ್ತರಗಳು ಸಿಗುವವರೆಗೆ ನಾವು ಕೇಳುತ್ತಲೇ ಇರುತ್ತೇವೆ.”
“ಯಾರು ಕೊಂದರು ಆ ಮಹಿಳೆಯರನ್ನು?” ಧರ್ಮಸ್ಥಳದ ದೋಷಮುಕ್ತಿ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಗೆ ರಾಜ್ಯವ್ಯಾಪಿ ಚಳುವಳಿ ಸವಾಲು
