Tucked deep in the Western Ghats in southern India, Dharmasthala is the kind of place that often feels untouched by time.
The monsoon air clings thick to the skin, the Nethravathi River hums gently through the hills, and the scent of wet earth rises from stone paths.
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Pilgrims come from across India to seek blessings at the revered Shri Manjunatha Temple — a centuries-old shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva.
But last month, that serenity gave way to something more sinister. The air, heavy with humidity, carried an eerie stillness. A chill lingered that had nothing to do with the weather.
Police vehicles now line the roads near the Nethravathi bathing ghat. Armed officers stand guard as red and white tape cuts through the surrounding forest.
Locals gather in clusters, watching from the edges, waiting to see if authorities will find what they've been told lies beneath the soil — evidence of one of India's most chilling alleged crimes.
Just weeks earlier, a former sanitation worker at the revered temple emerged from hiding after 11 years, saying the weight of his silence had become unbearable.
"I can no longer bear the burden of memories of the murders I witnessed, the continuous death threats to bury the corpses I received, and the pain of beatings — that if I did not bury those corpses, I would be buried alongside them," he wrote in a statement reviewed by the ABC.
He has not named the people he...
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