NHRC steps in as inquiry deepens in burial allegations

Belthangady: The National Human Rights Commission has dispatched a team to Belthangady to review decades-long cases of unnatural deaths amid rising scrutiny over claims of mass burials connected to Dharmasthala.

The ongoing probe into alleged mass burials in Dharmasthala, on Tuesday, got one more dimension following the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) ‘s dispatch of a delegation to Belthangady taluk to collect records, interview key sources, and assess the investigation’s transparency. The four-member NHRC team is meeting with local officials and examining reports from the panchayat, police, and SIT, which is central to the case.

SSP Yuvaraj, leading the team, has already obtained historic files on unnatural deaths from the police station. The team has also recorded the accounts of sanitation workers, whose testimony is considered critical in unravelling the allegations.

The visit is scheduled to last four to five days.

The inquiry follows explosive allegations made by a former sanitation worker who says he was coerced into burying bodies of women and minors over two decades.

The SIT has since exhumed partial skeletal remains and bones from several sites.

The NHRC’s involvement reinforces the demand for a methodical, rights-based approach to the investigation and lends institutional weight to calls for accountability.