'Pavithra Gowda root cause of Renukaswamy's murder'
BENGALURU: A city civil and sessions court observed that actress and fashion designer Pavithra Gowda is the root cause of the murder of Renukaswamy, after perusing material produced before it. The material shows the deceased was “tortured in an unimaginable manner”, said the court, adding that the crime is “heinous and gruesome”.
The court pointed out that the DNA report revealed the blood samples of the deceased matched the blood found on Pavithra’s clothes and the slipper which she had allegedly used to assault Renukaswamy. The deceased had reportedly sent her nude photographs from his Instagram account.
Mentioning these facts in the order rejecting bail on August 31, 56th Additional City Civil and Sessions Court Judge Jai Shankar noted there is strong prima facie material of Pavithra’s complicity in the alleged crime, which is “heinous and gruesome”.
Pointing out that she may tamper with prosecution witnesses if released on bail, the judge said the impact on society is a necessary fact to be considered while hearing the bail petition. “Considering the seriousness and gravity of the offence, I am of the opinion that if the petitioner is released on bail, it would give the wrong message to society,” the judge said.
Quoting the postmortem report, the court stated that the deceased had suffered 39 injuries, including severe ones such as his chest bone being broken, deep bleeding head injury, testicles being damaged, electrocution, etc. The photographs produced with the case diary show the deceased had sustained injuries on almost all parts of the body, and some of the injuries appear to be severe. These facts show the deceased was tortured in an unimaginable manner, the court said.
The court stated that a thorough and detailed investigation had been conducted and call record details, CCTV footage and location details were collected. The statements of two eyewitnesses were recorded before the magistrate, and recoveries were also made. The call record details indicated that the accused, including Pavithra, were in constant touch with each other, showing their complicity in the commission of the offence and their presence at the crime scene, the court added.
Referring to investigation papers produced by Special Public Prosecutor P Prasanna Kumar, the court stated the petitioner and accused No. 3 hatched a conspiracy to abduct the deceased in connivance with the other accused.
In the order rejecting the bail petition of Anukumar from Chitradurga, the court noted that there are serious allegations against him that he participated in the abduction of the deceased and had been assaulted. He was also involved in the extortion of a gold ring, gold chain, Karadika plus linga and a watch from the deceased, and took part in the disposal of the body. The FSL report disclosed that a blood sample of the deceased was found on the pants of the petitioner, the court said.