Assault takes its toll on Maruthi Gowda's global goals

Gym trainer Maruthi Gowda, who was allegedly assaulted by Kannada actor Duniya Vijay, was preparing for the International Bodybuilders championship scheduled to be held in December.

Now, after suffering multiple injuries in the attack, the 24-year-old’s dreams of participating in the prestigious event have been shattered.

Maruthi, who has already bagged several titles in his career, was looking forward to winning the global award.

“Our family was so proud of Maruthi as he had won several titles at a very young age. He is into this field for the past eight years. He has won several competitions at the state and national level. We were so confident of the international competition and had been supporting him throughout. He has suffered multiple injuries in the assault. The wound marks on his face are nothing... when I spoke to him I came to know that there are many internal wounds. He is even struggling to comfortably sit,” said Krishnamurthy aka Pani Puri Kitty, Maruthi Gowda’s uncle.

Maruthi, who has bagged several gold medals in bodybuilding, was getting ready for the international event under the guidance of Kitty. He was also conscious of his diet and food habits, but the latest incident has made him physically weak. He needs a lot of time to recover.

At the state-level competition, Maruthi was awarded the ‘Most Muscular Man’ title.

Kitty said, “As a gym instructor and bodybuilder, I know the pain and efforts that he had put in to gain his muscular look. Now, he has to break his diet as he is not even able to swallow food. Also, the intake of some medicines will make him physically weak. So his dream of taking part in the competition has taken a hit. However, we are praying for his early recovery.”

Kitty is a gym trainer for Sandalwood stars like Yash, Prem and Ajay Rao. Uday and Anil, the actors who lost their lives while performing a stunt for Masti Gudi, were also trained by Kitty. Maruthi also used to train actors in the absence of Kitty.