Mangaluru
Activist K Neela said that the silence of people over crime against women will sow the seeds of injustice, making the lives of the next generation more perilous.
She was addressing the gathering at the Chalo Belthangady protest organised by various organisations led by Janapara Sanghatanegala Okkoota and Pragathipara Sanghatanegala Janti Vedike, Karnataka, at Belthangady, to seek justice for Sowjanya.
She insisted that the government should arrest the culprit in the Sowjanya case, without bowing to pressure from any influential persons. People are seeking justice as per the Constitution. Hence, re-investigate the Sowjanya case and hundreds of other unnatural deaths reported in this region, she said, and called upon people to raise their voice against injustice.
In his opening remarks, former MLA Vasanth Bangera said that the BJP government had ordered a CID probe, and later the Congress government led by Siddaramaiah handed over the case to the CBI. However, the CBI investigation failed to provide justice for Sowjanya, he said, and added that a CBI officer, who was probing the case, was transferred.Bangera sought to know why Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel could not raise the Sowjanya issue in the Parliament. He also lashed out at BJP MLAs Harish Poonja and V Sunil Kumar, for not raising the issue in the assembly.
Activist Meenakshi Bali said that if the Sowjanya case was not handed over to an SIT, the investigation into all other rape cases will also be derailed, and culprits will go scot-free.
Sowjanya’s father Chandappa Gowda, grandfather Babu Gowda, DYFI State President Muneer Katipalla, Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA) President Prof Narendra Nayak, and leaders from about 100 organisations and political parties were present.
