Siddaramaiah mocks BJP over Soujanya issue

Bengaluru, Sep 3 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday ridiculed the BJP's assurance to the mother of Soujanya, a rape-murder victim, that it will bear the expenses if the family moved the Supreme Court over the matter.

He emphasised that only Soujanya’s mother has to decide what to do next.

Soujanya was kidnapped, raped and murdered in the temple town of Dharmasthala in Dakshina Kannada district in 2012. The CBI investigated the case. The accused in the case was later acquitted for want of evidence.

The case became one of the reasons behind the formation of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations of multiple bodies of young women and girl students buried in the town.

On September 1, the BJP state president B Y Vijayendra met Soujanya's mother as part of his party’s "Dharmasthala Chalo" campaign and assured her that he and the party would stand with her to take up the matter in the Supreme Court.

Replying to a query on BJP’s promise, Siddaramaiah sought to know, under whose control was the CBI.

"During whose tenure the judgment came. What is the meaning in bearing the expenses now in the Supreme Court after acquitting the accused," he asked.

He said Soujanya’s mother has to decide whether it is a fit case for appeal or not.

Mocking the BJP's campaign, which alleged that the SIT probe was aimed at defaming Dharmasthala and the temple management, Siddaramaiah said, It was "Politics Chalo" and not "Dharmasthala Chalo." PTI GMS GMS SA