India, Aug. 23 -- Sujatha Bhat, the woman whose account of a daughter who went missing in 2003 fuelled the growing controversy in Dharmasthala over allegations of mass burials, sexual assault, and disappearances of women in Karnataka's Dakshin Kannada district, retracted her claims on Friday and said her story was fabricated.

Speaking to a YouTube channel, Sujatha Bhat revealed the reason she made the claims about Dharmasthala. According to her, some people asked her to do it due to her property dispute with the temple authorities.

"Some people told me to say it. I was asked to do it because of the property issue. That's the only reason," she said when asked why she made such a claim.

The property issue concerns a plot of land owned by...