A writers’ convention scheduled for Sunday, March 9, to demand justice for the rape and murder of Sowjanya and protest attacks on free speech was cancelled after organisers received legal notices.
The meeting, planned at the Kannada Sahitya Parishat (KSP), was also meant to condemn the FIR against YouTuber Sameer MD, who recently made a video about the case. Karnataka police filed a suo motu case against Sameer and attempted to arrest him, but the Karnataka High Court has stayed the police summons until March 12.
Seventeen-year-old Sowjanya was raped and murdered in Ujire, Dakshina Kannada district, in 2012. Her family and activists have long maintained that the police arrested the wrong man. The suspect, Santhosh Rao, was acquitted in 2023 due to a flawed police investigation.
No one killed Sowjanya: A botched police investigation let her killer get away
Harish Kumar, one of the organisers, told TNM that the event had to be cancelled late on March 8 after the KSP withdrew permission citing a legal notice.
“We wanted to appeal to the state government to catch Sowjanya’s killers and protest the attack on free speech through the case against the YouTuber. Many women have died mysteriously in that region, and we want a Special Investigation Team to investigate all these deaths,” Harish said.
Writer, theatreperson and translator Du Saraswati, who planned to attend the event, told TNM that she wanted to express solidarity with the movement demanding justice for Sowjanya. “What happened to her, the way she was killed… she would have suffered so much. It’s painful to think about it. It’s not just about her. All children are India’s children. Our children must be safe. This mindset of violence (against women) must be opposed.”
Mahesh Joshi, president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, confirmed that he received a legal notice on Saturday from an advocate named Rajashekar.
According to Mahesh, organisers had sought permission saying the event was a writers’ convention. “But then we realised the event would discuss Sowjanya. KSP holds only literary events. We don’t hold events which are controversial or sub-judice.”
Meenakshi Bali, a retired Kannada professor and writer, told TNM that the cancellation of the event was an attack on free speech. “What is controversial about this? A young girl was killed in a brutal manner. Can’t we talk about it?”
She said that the convention was organised to discuss issues concerned with Sowjanya’s case such as the legal issues, and how civil society could ensure justice for her. “The Constitution has given us the right to talk about the injustices that we face and in a free manner.”
Even if an issue was being heard in the court, people still have a right to discuss it, she said.
TNM has also received legal notices from lawyer Rajshekhar representing individuals associated with the Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project, a trust started by Veerendra Heggade, the head of Dharmasthala.
In 2023, a Bengaluru court issued an ex parte interim injunction, directing Mahesh Shetty Thimarodi, a Hindutva activist who led protests demanding justice for Sowjanya, and others to refrain from publishing any content related to Heggade and the institutions under the purview of Dharmasthala. The injunction also applied to the media.
VV Puram police, under whose jurisdiction the KSP falls, denied any knowledge of the event.
Editor’s Note: TNM has used Sowjanya’s name with written consent from her mother.