BENGALURU: Kannada actor Darshan's wife Vijayalakshmi has written a letter to the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner stating that Pavithra Gowda, the first accused in the Renukaswamy murder case, is not Darshan's wife but only a friend.

In her letter, Vijayalakshmi stated that the police had said in the press conference that Pavithra Gowda was Darshan's wife.

'The Karnataka Home Minister also repeated this mistake. The national media is also saying the same. This is misleading. This will cause problems for me and my son Vineesh in future. I am Darshan's wife by law. We got married on May 19, 2003. Pavithra is also married. She was married to another man named Sanjay Singh. They also have a daughter. The police should record this properly. Pavithra is only Darshan's friend, not his wife. Hence, there should not be any mention of Pavithra as Darshan's wife,' Vijayalakshmi stated.

Vijayalakshmi stated that she was requesting the police to correct this mistake. She also said that she has full faith in the judiciary.

According to reports, Darshan and Pavithra have been in a relationship for almost ten years. Pictures and videos of the two spending time together had circulated on social media. Earlier this year, both Vijayalakshmi and Pavithra got engaged in a war of words over these pictures and videos.

17 people, including Darshan and Pavithra, are currently in police custody in the case of the murder of Chitradurga native Renukaswamy, a fan of Darshan.