14 Years On, SC Reopens Soujanya Rape-Murder Case, Orders Fresh Investigation

Bengaluru: After 14-years of the incident, where 17-year-old Soujanya was raped and murdered at Ujire in Dakshina Kannada district, the Supreme Court has ordered a reinvestigation of the case.

The Supreme Court has now said a compliance report on the steps taken in the case be filed within three months and has asked to exclude all the officers involved in the earlier investigation of the case.

Earlier, after the Karnataka police investigation, even the CBI had investigated the case and filed a charge sheet. The CBI court in 2023, had acquitted sole Suspect Santhosh Rao, who was earlier convicted for life by the trial court. The Karnataka High Court had dismissed a petition seeking reinvestigation in the case.

In 2012, Soujanya had disappeared while returning home near Dharmasthala from her college on a rainy evening. Next day, her body was found near her house and the post mortem report confirmed that she was raped and murdered.

The CID investigation by the Karnataka police had indicted Santhosh Rao, who was mentally unsound as the accused in the case and the later CBI investigation went in a different direction. When the Karnataka High Court dismissed the plea for reinvestigation, Soujanya's mother Kusumavathi had approached the Supreme Court.

In July, the Supreme Court had come down heavily on the CBI for its `poor' and `non-independent' handling of the case, while indicating that it may allow the Karnataka government to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a thorough reinvestigation.   

A bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva had reserved its judgement on the plea seeking reinvestigation following acquittal of accused Santhosh Rao.

Welcoming the judgment, Soujanya's mother Kusumavathi said that the Supreme Court order had rekindled her hope of getting justice to her daughter after 14 years.