Trial begins in Renukaswamy murder case involving Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa

Bengaluru: The trial in the Renukaswamy murder, where popular Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa is an accused, began on Wednesday.

Renukaswamy’s parents, who are witnesses number 7 and 8, appeared before the trial court after they were summoned on December 4. They had travelled from Chitradurga to Bengaluru following the summons.

On November 3, a Bengaluru court framed charges against Darshan, Pavithra and 15 other accused after they had pleaded not guilty.

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).

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.