Dharmasthala burials case: Complainant arrested for perjury

The Special Investigation Team probing the Dharmasthala mass burials case on Saturday arrested the complainant in the matter for perjury, The Hindu reported.

In July, a first information report was registered in Karnataka’s Dharmasthala town based on a complaint by a former sanitary worker, who alleged that he was forced to bury the bodies of several women bearing signs of sexual assault between 1995 and 2014.

The state government had set up the SIT to investigate the allegations and carry out excavations at several sites to verify if human remains exist there.

On July 11, the man had appeared before a magistrate in Belthangady and voluntarily submitted a skull and bones, claiming that they belonged to a woman who had been sexually assaulted.

However, forensic analysis confirmed that the remains were that of a male, The Hindu quoted unidentified SIT officials as saying.

“For this reason, he has been booked under the charge of creating false evidence and perjury,” an SIT officer told The News Minute.

The New Indian Express reported that the man was arrested after inconsistencies were found in the statements and documents he had provided to the investigators.

The 50-year-old complainant was arrested after protection granted to him under the Witness Protection Scheme was withdrawn on Friday night.

After his arrest, he was taken for medical examination and produced in a jurisdictional court in Belthangady...

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