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'Lokesh has brought a slur on the village'

Located between Holenarsipura and Hassan, the village first came in the limelight when Gowda became prime minister.

Sleuths of the Corps of Detective, who have been asked to investigate the attack on Chennamma and her daughter-in-law Bhavani on Shivaratri on February 21 arrived at the village Saturday for the probe.

The village watched as Lokesh, now in police custody, was taken in a police jeep to the temple on Saturday afternoon. Police reportedly seized the mat on which Chennamma was sitting at the time of the incident.

An uneasy calm prevailed in the native village of Gowda, with villagers going through their routine, unmindful of the presence of outsiders who may, most probably, turn out to be either inquisitive journalists or security personnel in plain clothes.

A cross-section of villagers told UNI they were saddened by and critical of the attack, allegedly by 22-year-old Lokesh, on two women relatives.

''He (Lokesh) has brought a slur on the village. No one performed pooja and ate anything after the incident,'' recalled Shankarappa and Rudrappa, priest brothers at the temple for several years.

The priests said that luckily Deve Gowda did not turn up for prayers, which he normally did not miss. However, villagers contended that even if Gowda had come, he would not have been attacked as his target was only Chenamma.

Disapproving of the crime, the villagers felt that youthful anger over differences between the families of Deve Gowda and his younger brother Basava Gowda and the humiliation suffered by Lokesh's family forced the suspect to commit the crime.

They point out that trouble between the two families assumed serious overtones after Basava Gowda's family shifted political affiliations to the Congress.

The villagers, ever willingly to part with details on the incident and the family feud, were emphatic that Lokesh should not have resorted to such ''cheap tactics'' of attacking his aunt to settle scores, particularly when Deve Gowda's family had left his ancestral property and land in the village in the care of Basava Gowda and his family.

Since Lokesh is a close relative of the former prime minister, security personnel did not suspect his intentions of throwing acid on his aunt and her daughter-in-law while they were offering prayers at the village temple, the villagers contended.

''If a former prime minister and his family are not protected in his native village, then how could their security be ensured elsewhere,'' asked Kariyanna Gowda, a classmate of Gowda.

Eyewitnesses said Lokesh was at the temple with his mother Jayamma, when Chennamma came with daughter-in-law Bhavani to offer prayers. She was waiting for her turn after Jayamma.

They said when the sub-inspector on security duty instructed Lokesh to keep away, he shouted back. Even as Special Protection Group men rushed in, the SI advised them to keep away as Lokesh was a family member.

Lokesh, eyewitnesses alleged, on the pretext of prostrating before the Nandi statue in the temple, suddenly fished out a container full of acid and poured the contents over the head of Chennamma and Bhavani.

The SI pinned Lokesh to the wall before arresting him.

Jayamma too condemned the attack. ''We may not be on speaking terms, but had I known that my son would attack the family members of Deve Gowda, I would have locked him in a room before going to the temple,'' she added.

Denying that the former prime minister's family had given them any land or property, she said, ''We were told to til their agricultural land, but when my son went to seek its registration, he was hounded out. Why should we develop their land? Our family bought our own land and we are now developing it,'' she explained.

A teary-eyed Jayamma, who has settled down in Halekote, about five km from Hardanahalli since then, said she was not aware of the whereabouts of her husband after the incident.

''The police came and picked him for interrogation and nothing is known after that. They (police) said I am also under arrest and wanted me to visit the police station and sign the register every day. But I told them firmly that I could not do so, as I had to look after my two mentally retarded children,'' she said.

She also pointed out that her family had not gained anything after Gowda assumed the top political position in the country.

''Though we did not expect any favours, it was his family members, Chennamma and her son H D Revanna in particular, who troubled us or the others after our family joined the Congress,'' Jayamma alleged.

''Perhaps this is the punishment we have to undergo for being close relatives of the former prime minister,'' she remarked.

Stating that trouble increased after she contested the zilla panchayat elections on a Congress ticket, Jayamma also accused Revanna of having 'manipulated' the elections to ensure her defeat.

A police contingent guards Basava Gowda's house as a precautionary measure.

UNI

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