With the lies and allegations around the alleged mass burials at Dharmasthala disproven, let us try to understand why the case crumbled so quickly. Why did the issue crop up all of a sudden (or was it) – was it done to tarnish the image of the Dharmadhikari and the institution by connecting it to the 2012 Soujanya murder case? Let’s take a look at the sequence of events. But before that, let us recap what happened in the Soujanya case.
Soujanya Alleged Rape & Murder Case
In 2012, a class 12 – 2nd year Pre Univ (PU) student aged around 17 years named Soujanya was allegedly raped and murdered in Dharmasthala. She was studying at the Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College.
It is reported that on 9 October 2012, she went missing while returning from college. Despite extensive searches by her family and locals in heavy rain, she could not be found. Her last confirmed sighting was around 4:15 PM near the Netravati riverbank.
The next day, her body was discovered in a forested area near a local hospital. She had clearly been assaulted; her clothes were allegedly torn and undergarments missing. Public outrage was immediate.
The investigation saw multiple turns. Initially, local Belthangady police handled the case before it was transferred to the CID. The CID named Santhosh Rao, a hotel worker from Karkala, as the prime suspect and cleared four other individuals whom the family had accused. Widespread protests followed, leading the government to hand over the case to the CBI in 2013.
After a prolonged trial, the CBI special court acquitted Santhosh Rao in June 2023 due to insufficient evidence and investigative lapses. The court’s decision sparked further protests and calls for a reinvestigation under the “Justice for Soujanya” campaign. However, the Karnataka High Court rejected the plea for a fresh probe in 2024, stating it would serve no purpose.
Soujanya’s father, Chandappa Gowda, passed away in January 2024 after battling cancer, without ever seeing justice for his daughter. Over a decade later, the central question remains: who was truly responsible for Soujanya’s rape and murder? The case remains officially unsolved.
Unfolding Of The Conspiracy: A Timeline
February 2025 – YouTubers Publish Videos About Sowjanya Murder Case
Sometime in February end 2025, Sameer MD, through his YouTube channel Dhootha, posted a video titled “Dharmasthala Soujanya Case” which gained over 18 million views. The video revisited decades of crimes in Dharmasthala, focusing on the 2012 rape and murder of Soujanya, the wrongful conviction of Santhosh Rao, and alleged influence in investigations.
March 2025 – Propaganda Gains Steam
On 5 March 2025, Cowl Bazaar police filed an FIR against the video, citing that it hurt religious sentiments. Advocate A. Velan, representing Sameer, argued the FIR was misuse of law and violated free expression.
A writers’ convention scheduled for 9 March 2025 at the Kannada Sahitya Parishat (KSP) in Bengaluru was cancelled after the organisers received legal notices. The event was planned to demand justice for Sowjanya, a teenager raped and murdered in 2012, and to protest an FIR against YouTuber Sameer MD for his video on the case. The KSP withdrew permission, stating it only hosts literary events, not controversial or sub-judice matters.
Around the same time, Tamil YouTubers like Madan Gowri is also seen posting videos after Sameer’s video is taken down. Madan highlighted that Sameer MD revived interest in the case by making a viral video alleging that influential figures connected to the Dharmasthala temple, including Veerendra Heggade and his circle, were involved in covering up the crime. He said that Sameer claimed Soujanya studied in a college managed by Heggade’s trust and suggested there were links. The video went viral, sparking heated debate and accusations that Sameer was targeting a Hindu religious leader because he was Muslim. Allegations circulated that Sameer was paid ₹35 lakh by Soujanya’s mother, though both she and Sameer denied this as absurd.
Following this video garnering more eyeballs, this one is also taken down. Several other Tamil YouTubers also do the same thing and do not post much about the Soujanya case.
15 March 2025 – The News Minute Enters
Around this time, The News Minute publishes a video using Sameer’s video takedown and linked it to other botched up police investigations such as the 2017 Kurnool hostel case (Geeta), the 2007 murder of student Ayesha Meera in Vijayawada, and Kerala’s 2017 Walayar sisters’ case. In each instance, crucial forensic evidence was ignored or tampered with, scapegoats were framed, and powerful suspects were shielded. Courts have noted police incompetence, but no meaningful accountability followed.
However, nothing much happens as takedown notices are implemented and the leftists and Dravidianists are unable to do anything at that time. By the time any further action can be taken, Pahalgam terror attack happens and the whole nation is in a frenzy – nothing will get attention now.
This was followed by Operation Sindoor – the attention towards the changing global situation continues till end of May 2025. Then on 12 June 2025, the Ahmedabad plane crash occurs, and the attention is again not there for the taking.
Now the conspiracists start making their move. Here’s a timeline of events that took place.
22 June 2025: Two Bengaluru lawyers, Ojaswi Gowda and Sachin Deshpande, met a former sanitation worker who claimed he could identify gravesites in Dharmasthala.
27 June 2025: The lawyers approached Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police requesting formal inquiry.
2 July 2025: The masked man, later revealed as Chinnaiah, filed written complaint with police, claiming he was forced to bury bodies of women and minors during 1995-2014
4 July 2025: FIR registered under Section 211(a) of BNSS
10 July 2025: Masked man granted police protection under Witness Protection Act
11 July 2025: Masked man appears before magistrate in Belthangady, produced a human skull and bones from a bag, claiming they belonged to a woman he had buried
15 July 2025: Sujatha Bhat files complaint claiming her daughter Ananya (medical student) went missing in Dharmasthala in 2003.
19 July 2025: Karnataka government constitutes Special Investigation Team (SIT) under DGP Pronab Mohanty following media and activist pressure.
20 July 2025: Dharmasthala temple administration issues statement supporting “fair and transparent” investigation.
25 July 2025: SIT formally takes over the case.
Between late July and early August, BBC and Al Jazeera jump into the picture – this came at a time when the leftists and other conspirators did not get the desired reaction from the public.
Al Jazeera
The Qatari government-funded propaganda outlet that is known for peddling anti-Hindu and anti-India narratives made even worse allegations than TNM and other leftist media. They first published an article on 22 July 2025, then went on to publish a video.
The video published on 25 July 2025 starts by framing the issue as “one of the worst serial killings in history.”
Then they shift to the “whistleblower” and identify him as “Dalit”, then they go on to say, “According to Hinduism’s caste system, the Dalits are at the bottom. They’re considered unpure and are often persecuted in India. As per tradition, temple administrators are from a higher caste.”
BBC – Tamil & Kannada
BBC’s video was in Kannada and they even interviewed Sujatha Bhat who recanted her statement saying she did not have a daughter, but she keeps making u-turns. BBC Kannada published the below video on 1 August 2025.
They published the Telugu version on the same date.
They published the same video in Tamil also, but 10 days later – on 10 August 2025.
”நான் நூற்றுக்கணக்கான சடலத்தை புதைத்தேன்”
இந்தியாவை உலுக்கிய தர்மஸ்தலா விவகாரம் – என்ன நடக்கிறது? BBC Ground Report #Dharmasthala pic.twitter.com/UO0971MWPS
— BBC News Tamil (@bbctamil) August 10, 2025
29 July 2025 – 4 August 2025
- SIT conducts excavations at 17 sites identified by masked man using ground-penetrating radar.
- No human remains were found at the first five locations.
- At a sixth site, partial skeletal remains of 15 bones (no skull) were found; initial reports suggested they were male.
- No remains were found at the seventh, eighth, ninth, or tenth sites.
- At an eleventh site, a human skull and a few bones were discovered.
- At a fourteenth site, over 114 bones and a skull were found; preliminary reports indicated the remains belonged to a human male.
- A PAN card and debit card were found at one site. The PAN card belonged to a man from Nelamangala who had died of jaundice and was cremated in his village.
Human remains found at only 2 sites out of 17 excavated nor were mass graves discovered despite extensive searches. The bones belonged to males.
18 August 2025
First major crack: Masked man retracts his claims, tells SIT he was coerced into making false statements. He stated that a gang approached him in Chennai in December 2023. The masked man revealed that the gang brought him to Karnataka, trained him on what to say in court, and even provided him with the skull and bone fragments he submitted as evidence which forensic reports later confirmed belonged to a man who died 30 years ago. He further confessed that he was instructed to coordinate his false testimony with another complainant, Sujatha Bhat, who had filed a missing person report for her daughter.
20 August 2025
BJP leader Gali Janardhana Reddy accuses Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil of being “mastermind” behind the campaign.
Senthil denies allegations calling them “baseless and ridiculous”
21-22 August 2025
Sujatha Bhat makes contradictory statements to media, first claiming she never had a daughter named Ananya, then retracting that statement too.
22-23 August 2025
SIT questions Chinnaiah extensively after finding major inconsistencies in his statements.
He confesses saying, “I’m only a player. The masterminds are somewhere else. They told me to say like this. So I said it. They told me to take the skull and hand it over to the court. So I did.”
He admitted having no knowledge of where the skull actually came from. Witness protection officially cancelled and masked man, now revealed as Chinnaiah is arrested for perjury.
23 August 2025
Chinnaiah is produced before Judicial First Class Magistrate in Belthangady. SIT is granted 10 days police custody for further investigation. Forensic reports confirm that the skull he presented was of a male, not female as claimed.
24 August 2025
BJP and JDS launched “Chalo Dharmasthala” rally demanding NIA probe.
Current Status (As of August 25, 2025)
BJP demands NIA investigation to expose “conspirators, foreign hands and funds”
Congress government under pressure, with some Congress MLAs demanding probe be stopped.
Deputy CM DK Shivakumar maintains government is on side of “justice”
Investigation Status
SIT continues investigation based on Chinnaiah’s confessions under custody
Temple administration vindicated – Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade says “truth is beginning to come out”
Questions remain about the identity of alleged “masterminds” Chinnaiah claimed were behind the conspiracy.
Some of the revelations of the case include:
– The evidence was fabricated – the skull was from a laboratory/unknown source, not from burial sites
– False testimony given – the primary complainant confessed to lying under oath Chinnaiah alleges he was pressured by unknown individuals to make false statements.
– No mass burials were found – despite extensive excavations at 17 sites, no evidence of mass graves.
(With inputs from India Today)
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