Kannada stars Darshan and Pavithra Gowda are not married, clarifies jailed actor's lawyer: Report

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Friday denied reports that 'royal treatment' was being given to Darshan and his associates at a police station here, where they are held after their arrest in connection with a murder case.

Anil Babu, the lawyer of jailed Kannada superstar Darshan, has clarified that his client is not married to actor Pavithra Gowda, and that they are just co-stars.

This comes in the wake of the actor, Gowda, and 13 others being arrested on charges of murdering a Chitradurga resident called Renukaswamy (32).

“I have met Darshan twice after his arrest. I am representing Darshan through his wife, in-laws, and family members. His wife Vijayalaxmi is sad with some sections of the media projecting Pavithra Gowda as Darshan's wife. She can't even go outside," the lawyer was quoted by NDTV as saying.

"The couple has one son. Pavithra Gowda is a co-artiste and friend of Darshan, and there is no relationship between them," he further added.

Babu stuck to his point even when questioned about why authorities were referring to Gowda as Darshan's wife.

Babu said according to the publication, "There is no record to prove that Pavithra Gowda is Darshan's wife. Had they been married, there should have been some documents, but there is nothing to show that she is the wife of Darshan."

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Friday denied reports that 'royal treatment' was being given to Darshan and his associates at the police station where they have been held after their arrest in connection with the murder case.

Renukaswamy’s body was found disposed of near a drain in Sumanahalli on the morning of June 9. Police grilled four among the 13 arrested who had voluntarily surrendered the same day claiming responsibility for the murder over a financial dispute and found a larger conspiracy involving Darshan and Pavitra Gowda.

The police probe had revealed that Renukaswamy was brought from Chitradurga by another suspect, Raghavendra, to a shed in RR Nagar on June 8 where he was allegedly tortured and beaten to death. Renukaswamy had sent lewd messages and posted objectionable comments on Pavitra’s social media, which led to the murder, the police said.

Apart from Darshan and Pavithra, the other arrested are Vinay V, Nagaraju R, Laxman M, Pradosh S, Pawan K, Deepak Kumar M, Nandish, Nikhil Nayak, Karthik, Keshava Murthy, Ravi, Jagadish alias Jagga and Anu Kumar.

(With PTI, DHNS inputs)