Mangaluru
A 330km padayatra to Bengaluru, seeking justice for Sowjanya, led by Karnataka Rashtra Samiti Party (KRSP) State President Ravi Krishna Reddy, was flagged off at Belthangady.
Reddy said that the government should consider the Sowjanya rape and murder case as a one, and order a re-investigation immediately. He said the party will demand that the government subject the investigation officer of the case in Belthangady Police station to a narco analysis test.
KSRP State Joint Secretary Raghupathi Bhat said that fast-track courts should be established in the state to expedite trials pertaining to rape and murders of children and women. Low conviction rate is one of the reasons for increase in assault, rape and murder of women in the state. The information obtained through the RTI Act shows that the conviction rate in cases under violence and harassment against women in the past 10 years was just 1.2 percent. The government should rectify the lacunae in the system, so that culprits in all such cases are punished. A committee headed by a High Court Judge with senior Police officers and representatives of various organisations as members, should be set up to increase the conviction rate in such heinous crimes, he added.
Earlier, party workers visited the house of Sowjanya, and interacted with her parents. Party State Vice-president Linge Gowda was present.
