Social media content creator and a former Bigg Boss television show contestant Sonu Srinivas Gowda, 29, has been arrested for illegally “adopting” a girl child. The 8-year-old child has been rescued and handed over to the Child Welfare Committee. The girl was with Ms. Gowda for 41 days and has now been rescued, police said.
S. Girish, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), Bengaluru said Byadarahalli Police have arrested Sonu Gowda under the Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 on Friday based on a complaint by an official from Women and Child Development Department alleging the accused has not followed adoption procedures properly.
Ms. Gowda, with over 1 million followers on her social media handles, is a popular content creator in Kannada. She had been posting videos with the 8-year-old girl for the past several weeks, claiming she adopted the child from her parents in Raichur. Ms. Gowda claimed she met the girl near her house when she was feeding stray dogs and the girl was the daughter of a construction labourer couple from Raichur. She had claimed that she had adopted the child legally and the procedure took three months. She had even posted a video of her visiting the girl’s family in Raichur and picking up the girl. Later she had posted several videos on her social media handles and YouTube channel with the girl.
Geeta, an official with the Women and Child Development Department, the complainant in the case, told media persons that the adoption was not legally done and several norms, including not disclosing the identity of the adopted child, had been violated in this case.
Ms. Gowda has reportedly told the police that she did not have any ulterior motive, but did not know the legal procedures for adopting a child properly and this had led to this situation. She has been remanded to police custody for four days.
