A YouTuber has been booked for offending religious sentiments a week after he uploaded a video about the rape and murder of Sowjanya, a college student in Karnataka, in October 2012. The video has received around 14 million views in just a week.
Sameer MD’s 39-minute video recalled the rape and murder of Sowjanya, a 17-year-old college student in Dharmasthala, Dakshina Kannada district. Santhosh Rao, whom the police arrested for the crime on October 9, 2012, was acquitted in July 2023, due to a botched investigation. Sowjanya’s family, however, maintained that the culprits were shielded by D Veerendra Heggade, the head of the Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala, an influential temple.
On March 5, Wednesday, the Cowl Bazar police station in Ballari district registered a suo motu complaint against Sameer, booking him under Section 299 (offending religious sentiments) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
In the complaint, Cowl Bazar sub-inspector M Ningappa states that the Sameer had “indirectly” alleged that “world renowned” Veerendra Heggade, the Dharmadhikari (head) of the Dharmasthala Temple, and his family members were involved not only in the rape and murder of Sowjanya but other murders too. “This video hurts the religious sentiments of those who revere Dharmasthala and the Dharmadhikari,” Ningappa said.
Sameer released another video after the police slapped an FIR, saying that he was not afraid and that he had documents for the cases he had spoken about. “What has happened now is that, me being a Muslim guy, it has become wrong of me to talk about this issue. That’s how this is being portrayed.”
He also spoke about another video that he had uploaded on another channel about the Siddeshwara Swamy hills in Tumakuru and other Hindu religious places where he had “joined his palms” in prayer.
“Caste and religion are not required here. I am not against Hindus. If I were anti-Hindu, why would I speak about injustice done to a Hindu girl? Let’s talk about justice. That is our dharma.”
On March 5, the same day as the FIR was filed, ADGP (Law and Order) R Hitendra wrote to SPs and Commissioners across the state, pointing out that the social media monitoring cells at the local levels had failed to bring the video to the notice of higher officers. He then directed all jurisdictions to report back regarding the action taken on the issue.
What is in the video?
The video, which extensively uses AI-generated graphics, has been viewed 1.45 crore times since it was uploaded on February 27, with over 46,000 people leaving comments, and some commenters even paying the YouTuber small amounts through the video-sharing platform.
Sameer dismissed allegations that he had been paid by Sowjanya’s family to make the video.
Most of the video is about the botched police investigation in the Sowjanya case. However, the video also briefly goes into the clout that Veerendra Heggade and his family wield without naming them. Instead, the YouTuber uses the term “gowdaru” to refer to the Heggade family. (While the term “gowda” is also a caste name, here, the YouTuber appears to be using it to mean an influential person of the village.)
The video also mentions several unsolved murders in Dharmasthala and surrounding areas in Belthangady taluk going back to the 1970s. These include the murders of Vedavalli Harale, who died of burns in 1979, and Padmalatha, who was 17 years old, in 1987. He also mentioned the murders of two siblings, Yamuna and Narayana, in September 2012.
Editor’s Note: TNM has used Sowjanya’s name with written consent from her mother.