Mangaluru (Karnataka), Aug 28: Kusumavati, mother of Sowjanya, a girl allegedly raped and murdered more than a decade ago, on Thursday submitted a fresh complaint to the SIT probing allegations of multiple rapes, murders and burials in Dharmasthala over the past two decades.
Sowjanya, a 17-year-old college student, was allegedly raped and murdered on October 9, 2012, in Dharmasthala—a case that remains unresolved even more than a decade later. Despite a CBI probe and Supreme Court intervention, the real perpetrators have never been identified.
In her complaint, Kusumavati referred to statements given by Chinnaiah’s sister, Ratna, who told the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) that influential figures threatened Chinnaiah in 2014 over his knowledge of Sowjanya’s death, forcing him to leave Dharmasthala.
Additionally, Kusumavati’s complaint refers to some media reports that allege a person named Ravi Poojari disclosed the names responsible for the crime to Chinnaiah and was later murdered.
Kusumavati called for a narco-test of Chinnaiah to confirm these claims and urged the Karnataka government and SIT to get justice for her daughter.
She expressed deep frustration, stating, “Even today, justice has eluded us. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) is interrogating Chinnaiah, the key suspect. Our family and others already knew about his involvement in disposing of bodies, yet no action was taken”.
Chinnaiah was a Sanitation worker in Dharmasthala who recently lodged a complaint with police stating that during his service he was forced to bury several dead bodies, including those of women and girls, some of which bore marks of sexual assault, between 1995 and 2014. Based primarily on his complaint, an SIT was formed to probe the allegations of multiple rapes and murders, with the implications pointing towards the administrators of the local temple. Initially, Chinnaiah’s name was not revealed. However, later, SIT arrested the complainant-witness Chinnaiah on charges of perjury.
The BJP had protested against targeting the temple. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had also warned of action if the complaint was false. Veerendra Heggade, the Dharmadhikari or the custodian of the temple too had welcomed the constitution of the SIT. (PTI)
