In a significant development in the ongoing Dharmasthala burial case, a woman claiming to be the first wife of the so-called “masked man” has publicly denied his allegations and accused him of lying for monetary gain.
Speaking to the media, the woman stated that she married the masked man in 1999 and was together with him for seven years. During this period, she alleged, he physically assaulted her and their children. The couple has a son and a daughter. She claimed that he worked as a sweeper in Dharmasthala, performing tasks such as cleaning toilets, and denied any knowledge of alleged murders, rapes, or burials linked to the case.
“To avoid paying alimony, he lied in court about being unemployed during our divorce. He betrayed me,” she told reporters, adding that her mother took care of the children after their separation. She emphasized her respect for Dharmasthala, asserting that her husband’s claims about crimes in the temple town were false.
Residents of Chikkaballi village in Mandya taluk corroborated aspects of her account, stating that the masked man was a native of Mandya, the youngest of four siblings, and the son of a grama panchayat employee. According to villagers, he was employed in civic work and at a local brick kiln, and the community even built a house for him, which he later sought to transfer into his name. They added that he availed a bank loan to buy cattle but failed to repay it and left the village abruptly in 2014.
The revelation adds a new dimension to the Dharmasthala burial case, which has been under investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). Local social activist Snehamayi Krishna has also filed a complaint, and the SIT is expected to issue notices to key individuals involved as part of its ongoing inquiry.
Chennai Gang Allegedly Trained Him
A few days ago, the masked man confessed to the SIT that he was coerced by a gang in Chennai in December 2023 to fabricate allegations of illegal mass burials.
“They asked me how many bodies I had buried when I worked in Dharmasthala. I told them the truth: that I had legally buried the bodies of pilgrims who came for salvation, through the police and gram panchayat,” the complainant stated. “But the gang insisted that I should say that the bodies were buried illegally. They pressured me… they changed my mind.”
The complainant 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.
(With inputs from Deccan Herald)
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