{"id":7279,"date":"2026-04-12T02:34:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T21:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/?p=7279"},"modified":"2026-04-12T02:34:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T21:04:04","slug":"no-post-mortems-no-firs-no-justice-karnataka-activists-call-for-peoples-movement-over-74-unexplained-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/?p=7279","title":{"rendered":"No Post-Mortems, No FIRs, No Justice: Karnataka Activists Call for People\u2019s Movement Over 74 Unexplained Deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The \u2018Dharmasthala Files\u2019: Activists Demand Public Release of SIT Report as 74 Unnatural Deaths Haunt Karnataka<\/h1>\n

Bengaluru \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0More than three years after a judicial probe was ordered into a string of unexplained deaths in and around Dharmasthala, a coalition of civil society groups and legal activists has accused successive Karnataka governments of a \u201csystemic failure\u201d in delivering justice. At a press conference here on Saturday, the\u00a0Kondavaru Yaaru?<\/em> (Who Killed Them?) campaign demanded the immediate release of the Special Investigation Team\u2019s progress report, likening the unresolved cases to global scandals of institutional cover-up.<\/p>\n

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\u2018\u0c8e\u0caa\u0ccd\u0cb8\u0ccd\u0c9f\u0cc0\u0ca8\u0ccd \u0caa\u0ccd\u0cb0\u0c95\u0cb0\u0ca3\u0ca6\u0c82\u0ca4\u0cc6 \u0ca7\u0cb0\u0ccd\u0cae\u0cb8\u0ccd\u0ca5\u0cb3 \u0c95\u0cc7\u0cb8\u0ccd\u2019 \u2013 \u0c8e\u0cb8\u0ccd\u0c90\u0c9f\u0cbf \u0cb5\u0cb0\u0ca6\u0cbf \u0ca4\u0ca1\u0cc6\u0cb9\u0cbf\u0ca1\u0cbf\u0ca6 \u0cb8\u0cb0\u0ccd\u0c95\u0cbe\u0cb0\u0c95\u0ccd\u0c95\u0cc6 \u0cb8\u0cc0\u0ca8\u0cbf\u0caf\u0cb0\u0ccd \u0c85\u0ca1\u0ccd\u0cb5\u0ccb\u0c95\u0cc7\u0c9f\u0ccd \u0cac\u0cbe\u0cb2\u0ca8\u0ccd \u0ca4\u0cbf\u0cb0\u0cc1\u0c97\u0cc7\u0c9f\u0cc1<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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A Long Shadow of Unanswered Questions<\/h2>\n

The campaign, which brings together women\u2019s collectives, legal forums, and rights organizations, released an open letter expressing solidarity with Kusumavathi, mother of Soujanya\u2014one of the victims whose death remains shrouded in mystery. The letter calls for transparency and accountability, as the number of recorded unnatural deaths in the region linked to the Dharmasthala religious institution has reached 74.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a long-standing systemic failure in addressing the atrocities in Dharmasthala. Various agencies\u2014the local police, the Criminal Investigation Department (COD), and even the CBI\u2014have investigated some of these cases, yet all have failed to deliver justice,\u201d said Senior Advocate S. Balan, who is representing Kusumavathi in a Public Interest Litigation before the Karnataka High Court.<\/p>\n

Drawing a sharp parallel, Balan added: \u201cThis situation is similar to what is referred to as the \u2018Epstein files\u2019\u2014one could call these the \u2018Dharmasthala files\u2019 or \u2018Karnataka files.\u2019 Just as the Epstein case exposed networks of exploitation and abuse, what has happened here also points to deeply disturbing patterns of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Who Killed Them?\u2019 \u2013 A Question No Government Has Answered<\/h2>\n

The activists pointed out that despite an SIT being constituted with police powers, it has yet to register a single case or make any of its findings public. \u201cThe government must answer the question: \u2018Who killed them?\u2019 From the government of Ramakrishna Hegde to that of Siddaramaiah, no administration has provided answers,\u201d Balan said.<\/p>\n

He questioned the efficacy of the current probe: \u201cAn SIT has now been formed and given police powers, but why has it not registered even a single case so far? Why has its progress report not been made public?\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2018Systemic Failure\u2019 in Dharmasthala Deaths:<\/strong> Senior Advocate Compares Cover-Up to Epstein Scandal, Demands Public SIT Progress Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Legal Gaps and High Court Scrutiny<\/h2>\n

Kusumavathi\u2019s PIL, filed in the Karnataka High Court, has exposed glaring investigative lapses. According to the petition, many of the 74 unnatural deaths lack basic legal procedures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many of these cases, there have been no post-mortems, no inquest reports, and in some instances, not even FIRs or proper investigations. Why is this so?\u201d Balan asked. \u201cThe High Court has now directed the government to provide complete details of the investigations into these deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n

The activists also criticized the state\u2019s reluctance to order a reinvestigation into Soujanya\u2019s death, despite having the legal authority to do so. \u201cAlthough the state government has the authority to order a reinvestigation in the Soujanya case, why has it not done so? Why should Kusumavathi be forced to approach the Supreme Court for this? Why did earlier governments, including that of Yediyurappa, not order a reinvestigation?\u201d Balan added.<\/p>\n

A Call for People\u2019s Movement<\/h2>\n

Other speakers at the conference included Gowramma from the Janavadi Mahila Sanghatane, Mamatha Yajaman and Madhu Bhushan from the\u00a0Naaveddhu Nilladiddare<\/em>\u00a0platform, Jyothi A. from the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), and Mallige Sirimane from Mahila Munnade. They collectively asserted that institutional mechanisms alone have failed, and that sustained public pressure is the only path to accountability.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are calling this what it is\u2014a systemic failure\u2014and we are questioning it. It is only through sustained people\u2019s movements that justice for Soujanya and other victims can be achieved,\u201d Balan said.<\/p>\n

As the High Court awaits the government\u2019s response and the SIT remains silent, the\u00a0Kondavaru Yaaru?<\/em>\u00a0campaign has vowed to keep the pressure alive\u2014demanding that the so-called \u201cDharmasthala files\u201d no longer remain hidden from public view.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The \u2018Dharmasthala Files\u2019: Activists Demand Public Release of SIT Report as 74 Unnatural Deaths Haunt Karnataka Bengaluru \u2013\u00a0More than three years after a judicial probe was ordered into a string of unexplained deaths in and around Dharmasthala, a coalition of civil society groups and legal activists has accused successive Karnataka governments of a \u201csystemic failure\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[198],"tags":[1103,1424,1495],"class_list":["post-7279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bengaluru","tag-dharmasthala","tag-dharmasthala-case","tag-dharmasthala-files"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":80,"today_views":0},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7282,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7279\/revisions\/7282"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}