Daijiworld Media Network—Mangalore (SS)
Mangalore, Oct 27: “With regard to the Sowjanya rape and murder, the entire state has been protesting and justice should prevail,” said K L Ashok, state general secretary, Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike, at a press meet held at Hotel Woodlands on Saturday October 26.
K L Ashok also said, “The allegations against Dharmasthala temple head Dr D Veerendra Heggade's family in this case, made by Sowjanya's parents should be looked into and a proper CBI inquiry must be conducted without political influence or pressure.”
“Dr Heggade and his family must not hamper the police inquiry and they must be arrested as they have already tampered with the evidence,” he added.
Suresh Bhat Bakrabailu, district president, Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike, said, “Dr D Veerendra Heggade had said that his nephew was not in India during the incident and had submitted a copy of his visa to authenticate the claim, but it has been revealed that the visa copy was a duplicate.”
He also said, “Vinay Kumar Sorake visited Dharmasthala and Sowjanya's parents not to fight for justice but for vote bank politics. Furthermore, in such cases every political party must come together so that integrity is maintained in the society.”
The Vedike also claimed that since 1998, more than 400 cases of rape and murder had been witnessed in Dharmasthala and no proper inquiry had been conducted into these yet.
The Dakshina Kannada district unit of Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike also made allegations stating that Dr D Veerendra Heggade and his family have been involved in land forgery and have accumulated 431 acres of land that was legally allotted to the SC/ST and Koraga community.
The Vedike urged that a CBI probe be conducted into Sowjanya’s rape and murder, the land forgery and all other cases that are pending. They also said that as the CBI has been overloaded, a separate committee must be made so that such issues may be handled in future.
Ali Hassan, P B Desa, Chaudhamani, and other members of the Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike were present for the press meet.