Dharmasthala case: Women group seeks Sonia Gandhi’s intervention

Bengaluru: A group of women personalities from diverse fields, including actor-theatre activist Arundhati Nag, filmmakers Kavita Lankesh and Suman Kittur, writer-journalist Vijayamma, gender and sexuality rights activist Akkai Padmashali, have written to senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi urging her to ensure that the inquiry into a series of unsolved crimes in Dharmasthala must focus exclusively on delivering justice to women and other victims.

Called “Kondavaru Yaaru? Who Killed the Women in Dharmasthala?”, the campaign by the group of women seeks to bring the focus back to the issue of justice for the victims and dismantling deep-seated structures that perpetuate such violence against women. “Unfortunately, not even a few weeks into the investigation, the matter has become the subject of intense and often salacious media coverage and political grandstanding. As a result, what should have been a moment for truth and accountability has instead spiralled into intimidatory tactics and attempts to bury justice once again,” read the letter to Gandhi, dated September 4 and signed by nearly 50 women personalities.

A copy of the letter was shared with some of the media houses on September 5.

The letter pointed out that the reports in the media have been consistently hinting at possible “systematic abuse, murder, rape, and unexplained deaths involving women and students”.

Local activists and journalists in Dakshina Kannada (DK) and women’s rights organisations across the state have also been raising concerns and protesting about the deaths and unnatural disappearances for years now, in particular Soujanya case in 2012, Padmalatha case in 1986 and Vedavalli case in 1979, read the letter.

According to the group of women, RTI data between January 2001 and October 2012 shows 424 documented deaths including that of many girls and women in just the two towns of Ujire and Dharmasthala.