The road connecting Udupi to Belthangady has become a canvas of unspoken demands. Through a series of strategically placed posters, a narrative echoing the collective demand for justice unfolds in the name of Sowjanya—a name that has etched itself into the consciousness of these towns. United under the banner of 'Janapara Sanghatanegala Okkuta Dakshina Kannada' and 'Pragathipara Sanghatanegala Horata Samithi, Karnataka', various organisations gathered to stage a protest on Monday, August 28. Bound by a common goal – demanding justice for the 2012 rape and murder of Sowjanya, they demanded the formation of a Special Investigation Team to look into the case.
Speaking to the assembled crowd near the Belthangady taluk office was Kusumavathi, Sowjanya's mother, who has been fighting relentlessly for the last eleven years. The family was never convinced about the guilt of Santhosh, the man, the police insisted was responsible for Sowjanya’s killing. When Santhosh was acquitted in June, Kusumavathi felt vindicated. She said, “For eleven years, I have been saying that he didn’t kill my daughter. Now the court also said the same. Then who killed my daughter?” she said while holding the pallu of her saree. “I beg the government to reinvestigate my daughter’s murder and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Sowjanya’s case has been a rallying point for the protesters in Belthangady and Dharmasthala areas, where unsolved murders of women have been on the rise. A local non-governmental organisation (NGO) Nararika Seva Trust (NST), had obtained documents using a Right to Information (RTI) application, which revealed that ten years before Sowjanya’s murder, there had been a total of 452 unnatural deaths in Dharmasthala and the nearby small town of Ujire. Among these deaths, 96 were women. Notably, around 40 of these women's bodies were discovered in various lodges within the region and the police have been unable to identify them. In several other instances, the bodies were located along the banks of the Netravathi River, which flows through the taluk.
Banners placed in Karkala and Belthangady
At the protest, former MLA Vasanth Bangera reminded them of the journey the case had undertaken, from different investigative bodies to the courtrooms, without yielding the justice they sought. He targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), questioning their timing of protest on a Sunday when the taluk office remained closed. BJP's district units of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi had organised their own protest at the Belthangady taluk office on August 27. He questioned, “Why did MP Nalin Kumar Kateel not raise the issue in Parliament, and why did MLAs Harish Poonja and Sunil Kumar not raise it in the Assembly?” The irony, he pointed out, was that their protest suggested a lack of faith in the Union government and PM Narendra Modi, driving them to request Siddaramaiah for a reinvestigation.
A Bengaluru court exonerated Santhosh Rao of all charges on June 16, 2023, after expressing scepticism regarding the reliability of the evidence presented during the trial Throughout the prolonged legal proceedings, Sowjanya's family consistently maintained that Santhosh had been wrongly implicated and argued that the investigation had not been conducted comprehensively. In the wake of Santhosh's acquittal, the Sowjanya case has generated considerable public attention and scrutiny, prompting various right-wing and advocacy groups to organise protests calling for a fresh inquiry into the case.
Read: No one killed Sowjanya: A botched police investigation let her killer get away | The News Minute
BJP district units of Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada and Udupi had organised a similar protest at the Belthangady taluk office, with the participation of all BJP MLAs and MLCs from the respective districts on Sunday, August 27. Various other right-wing groups such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, have been organising protests and demonstrations across the state.
Muneer Katipalla, a local politician affiliated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and one of the organisers, accused the BJP of misleading tactics. He labelled the BJP's protest as ironic, as the BJP had been in power during the incident and subsequent investigations. The protest, according to Katipalla, revealed a lack of confidence in the CBI's probe during the BJP's tenure. Horata Samithi convener BM Bhat said that their protest aimed for justice, not insults. He, along with activists K Neela and Vimala KS demanded the formation of SIT to look into the decade-old case.
Editor’s Note: TNM has used Sowjanya’s name with written consent from her mother.