Hyderabad, July 29 -- A peaceful temple town in Karnataka, Dharmasthala, which is sacred in its religious and spiritual importance, has been plunged into scandal following shocking reports of clandestine mass burial of victims of brutality and suspected sexual violence.

How the controversy began

The controversy erupted on July 3, when a former sanitation official alleged that he had been compelled to bury human remains, largely women's bodies, washed up on the banks of the Nethravati river near the famous Dharmasthala temple. The witness was a Dalit man who said the burials took place over almost two decades, from 1995 to 2014. A case was lodged the next day, July 4.

The testimony, now under record in a magistrate's court, triggered ma...