Renukaswamy murder: Charges framed against Darshan, Pavithra Gowda and others; trial date decision on November 10

All 17 accused, including Darshan, were produced physically on Monday afternoon before the Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge.

Bengaluru: As scores of fans and advocates waited outside, a Bengaluru court on Monday framed charges against popular Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, his friend Pavithra Gowda and 15 other accused after they pleaded not guilty in the Renukaswamy murder case.

All 17 accused, including Darshan (48), were produced physically on Monday afternoon before the additional city civil and sessions judge. The judge read out each of the charges mentioned in the charge sheet to the accused in detail.

The key charges invoked in the charge sheet were murder (IPC 302), criminal conspiracy (IPC 120B), kidnapping or abducting to murder (IPC 364) and disappearance of evidence (IPC 201).

All the accused said they were pleading “not guilty”. Continuing with the procedure, the judge took the pleas on record, framed charges and adjourned the hearing to November 10 to set the date for trial.

The counsel for the defence requested the court orally that they would prefer an in-camera hearing. A decision is expected during the next hearing.

As the judge began the proceedings, he observed that amid such a commotion, how was he supposed to frame the charges and that what he read should be clearly heard by the accused. He then directed only those involved with the case to remain inside.

After the charges were framed, the accused, including Darshan and Pavithra, were moved back to the Parappana Agrahara central prison in Bengaluru, where they will continue to remain under judicial custody.

The police personnel had a hard time escorting Darshan out, who let out a slight smile on seeing his fans and briefly raised his hands to greet them. Loud ‘D-Boss, D-Boss’ chants echoed at the city civil court complex.

Speaking to reporters, the counsel representing Pavithra claimed that the charges were frivolous.

“This case should be treated like any other normal case – this is also what we said in court. When their involvement isn’t there, why should they plead guilty? It doesn’t mean whatever the police investigated is correct. This is the only case where a charge sheet was particularly submitted in volumes,” the advocate said.

Renukaswamy, a 33-year-old resident of Chitradurga, was found murdered near a stormwater drain in Sumanahalli, west Bengaluru, on June 9, 2024. His body was badly mutilated.

Police arrested Darshan, his female friend Pavithra Gowda and seven others two days later.

More arrests followed subsequently. According to police, the motive behind the murder was Renukaswamy’s “obscene” messages to Pavithra on social media.

On September 3, 2024, police filed a 3,991-page charge sheet, naming Pavithra as accused 1 and Darshan as accused 2, detailing the brutality of the crime. They subsequently filed a supplementary charge sheet.

On August 14, 2025, the Supreme Court cancelled the bail granted by the Karnataka High Court to Darshan, Pavithra and others and allowed the prosecution’s special leave petition.