Temple Worker Claims Hundreds of Women and Girls Were Murdered and Buried in Secret

A former temple worker has come forward with horrifying claims that have sparked a major criminal investigation in India. The man, now 48, told police he was forced under threat to bury the bodies of hundreds of women and girls—many of them allegedly sexually assaulted before being murdered—during his time working at a temple in Dharmasthala, a well-known pilgrimage village in Karnataka.

The whistleblower, whose identity has not been released, says he worked at the temple from 1995 to 2014. On July 3, he filed a complaint with police, detailing a chilling pattern of violence, abuse, and cover-ups that allegedly took place for years behind temple walls.

“Many female corpses were found without clothes or undergarments,” he wrote in his statement, obtained by multiple news outlets. “Some showed clear signs of sexual assault and violence—injuries, strangulation marks. It was horrifying.”

He claimed that shortly after starting his job, he began seeing the bodies of women and girls wash up along the river near the temple. At first, he assumed they were suicides. But over time, he noticed many of the bodies were nude or partially clothed and bore signs of abuse.

In one particularly disturbing incident, he said he found the body of a schoolgirl in uniform—missing her skirt and underwear—with strangulation marks on her neck. “They instructed me to dig a pit and bury her along with her school bag,” he recalled. “That scene remains disturbing to this day.”

According to his complaint, he was repeatedly threatened with violence and death if he refused to bury the victims. He claimed a supervisor once told him, “We will cut you into pieces; your body will be buried like the others. We will sacrifice your entire family.”

The man also alleged that poor men who came to the temple area seeking food or shelter were murdered in cold blood. “They would be tied to chairs in rooms and suffocated with towels,” he said. “These murders happened in front of me.”

Haunted by what he witnessed, the whistleblower said he could no longer live with the guilt. “I can no longer bear the burden of the memories, the threats, the pain. I had to come forward.”

Indian authorities have now launched a special investigation unit to probe the claims. While the case remains under active investigation, the man’s testimony has already sent shockwaves across the country.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, help is available. In the U.S., contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE or visit rainn.org. To speak with a crisis counselor via text, message “STRENGTH” to 741-741.