On June 11, Kannada film actor Darshan Thoogudeepa and his partner Pavithra Gowda were arrested in connection with the murder case of Renuka Swamy, a 33-year-old resident of Chitradurga.
However, recently, Darshan's lawyer claimed that Pavithra is not his second wife nor his partner. βPavithra Gowda being the second wife, that is utterly false. She is just a friend. They used to be co-stars and now they have a friendly relationship, nothing else. The only wife [of Darshan] is the first wife, Vijayalakshmi. No second marriage happened at any point of time,β Anil Babu told India Today.
A few days ago, Pavithra shared a video on social media celebrating 10 years of her 'relationship' with Darshan. She wrote, "One decade down; forever to go.β₯οΈβ₯οΈ #10year Itβs been 10years of our relationship. Thank you."
Furthermore, Anil stated that Darshan has no connection with Renuka and is not involved in the murder. Regarding the CCTV footage showing the actorβs Jeep at the crime scene, he clarified that the Kannada actor was not in the car, and the police have not yet provided any evidence proving his presence.
According to the police, Renuka Swamy was killed because he would allegedly send abusive messages to Pavithra Gowda on Instagram.
After Darshan's arrest, protests in the state broke out, demanding a ban on actor. Talking about the same, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce President NM Suresh told Hindustan Times, βWe havenβt yet decided on the ban of the actor as the enquiry is still ongoing. If anything comes up, we will definitely take action."
Meanwhile, the body of the deceased was recovered from a drain near Summanahalli, Bengaluru, on June 9.
