The woman, identified as Sujatha Bhat, had earlier claimed that her daughter Ananya went missing in Dharmasthala in 2003.
Speaking in a video interview, Sujatha confessed that she never had a daughter named Ananya. “It is not true. There was never any daughter named Ananya Bhat. The photograph shared was also fake,” she said.
According to Hindustan Times report, Sujatha was persuaded by activists Girish Mattannavar and T Jayanti to make the claim.
According to her, the motive was linked to a dispute over land owned by her grandfather, which she alleged was taken over by the Dharmasthala temple authorities. “I was asked to say these things because of the property issue. That’s the only reason,” she said.
She also clarified that no money was involved. “Nobody gave me money, and I never asked for it. My only question was how my grandfather’s land was given away without my signature,” Sujatha said.
Her new statement directly contradicts what she told investigators earlier this week. In her earlier complaint, she had claimed that her daughter Ananya, an 18-year-old medical student, disappeared in May 2003 while visiting the temple town, HT reported.
She also told the police that when she tried to investigate, she herself was abducted, assaulted, and was left in a coma for a month in a Bengaluru hospital.
Now distancing herself from those claims, Sujatha has asked for forgiveness from the people of Karnataka and devotees of Dharmasthala.
“Yes, I lied. I ask the people of this state and the whole country to forgive me. I never did this for money,” she said as quoted by HT.
However her statement has come at a sensitive time, as a Special Investigation Team (SIT) is currently probing allegations of mass burials near Dharmasthala.
On Friday, the SIT issued a notice to Sujatha, asking her to appear at its office in Belthangady for questioning.
The U-turn in the case has raised new questions about the credibility of earlier claims in the and has added another twist to an already heated controversy in Karnataka.