Bengaluru: Kannada film actor Duniya Vijay, who was in the news last week in connection with Maasthigudi’ film tragedy, is once again in news for all bad reasons. He has been accused of assaulting a relative of Maasthigudi film producer Sundar P. Gowda, during a dispute over family matters.
Following the incident, the Chennammana Kere Acchukattu police arrested the actor, interrogated him for over an hour and released him later on bail. Jayaram, 55, the father-in-law of Sundar Gowda’s elder brother Shankar Gowda, who was allegedly assaulted by the actor, is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
Shankar and Jayaram’s daughter Manasa reportedly became friends on Facebook. Their friendship turned into love after several months and they got married on August 14. However, the couple had differences and allegedly fought over trivial issues. Elders from both families had held meetings and advised the couple to patch up, but the fights reportedly continued.
Jayaram said that the incident took place on Tuesday morning, when he went to meet his daughter. “I had not seen my daughter for the last 25 days and I along with my wife went to meet and speak to her. But when we went there, Shankar started abusing us. He made a few phone calls and around 9 am, Duniya Vijay came along with his associates. While I was explaining him how Shankar was harassing my daughter, Vijay did not listen and slapped me before kicking on my chest, after locking us up in the house.”
Soon after the incident, his wife rushed him to a private hospital and a complaint was filed with the CK Acchukattu police. The police rushed to the hospital and recorded Jayaram’s statement and then went to Shankar’s house, which was near the police station. Vijay was still there and the police took him to the station.
Vijay was grilled about the incident for nearly 90 minutes and he formally arrested and released on station bail taking surety from two of his friends. “Vijay claimed that he went to resolve the family dispute of Shankar, a close friend to him, but never assaulted any one. He was left after a stern warning that strict action would be initiated if he involves in any such incident again,” an official said.
The police who registered the FIR, booked Vijay under sections 321 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation).
