Beltangady: Sowjanya Murder - Defamation Cases Filed against 9 including Parents, Timarody

Beltangady: Dheeraj Kella, Uday Jain and Mallik Jain from here have filed separate cases of defamation on Monday against nine persons in connection with sexual assault on and murder of Sowjanya from Dharmasthala over a year ago.

They have named Sowjanya's parents Chandappa Gowda and Kusumavati, uncle Vithal Gowda, Prajaprabhutva Vedike founder-convener Mahesh Shetty Timarody, a private news channel, its anchor, programme coordinator and managing director.
They have alleged that baseless accusations were being leveled against them to project them as culprits. They have also said that accusations have been made in social media networks against them, along with their pictures besides an inappropriate picture of the victim.
They have said that as a result of it their reputation in the society had been harmed and the public were viewing them as culprits. They further stated that if the persons who had accused them had any proof or evidence, they could have handed them over to the investigating officers or the court.
Instead, the defendants were making charges against the three of them for the sake of publicity. They have added that an attempt was being made to mobilize public opinion against the system and the government. 
According to legal opinion sought by our correspondent, this case to some extent might come in the way of the CBI investigation that has been ordered on the ground of its being sub judice.

[IMAGE & SOURCE via http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=439500]