The Supreme Court on Wednesday, April 30 directed the Karnataka government to file a comprehensive report detailing the steps it intends to take on a plea seeking re-investigation into the 2012 rape and murder of 17-year-old Sowjanya in Karnataka’s Ujire. The court was hearing a plea filed by Sowjanya’s mother seeking a fresh probe into the 2012 rape-murder, stating that key evidence was overlooked and raising concerns over gaps in earlier CID and CBI probes.
Sowjanya, a 17-year-old college student from Belthangady, was brutally raped and murdered in October 2012. Despite multiple investigations by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), her killer hasn’t been found.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K Vinod Chandran also asked Karnataka’s Additional Advocate General Avishkar Singhvi to ensure protection for witnesses after senior advocates Shobha Gupta, Anand Sanjay M Nuli and Shekhar G Devasa, appearing for the victim’s family, alleged that several witnesses had died under “mysterious circumstances.”
The court expressed displeasure at the state government’s failure to submit details of the steps it had earlier sought time to file. Singhvi informed the bench that the case was first handled by the CID before being transferred to the CBI, which eventually filed the charge sheet.
“We want you to file an affidavit on whether you can form an SIT to look into the matter all over again. There was a possibility of looking into the role of other accused. Give us a clear stand,” the bench told the state’s AAG.
When the victim’s counsel pressed for a fresh CBI probe, the bench noted that the incident occurred in 2012 and the central agency took over the investigation in 2013. Counsel for the family submitted that crucial evidence, including the victim’s belongings, remains preserved and DNA testing is still possible. The trial court itself had observed that the real culprits may be other individuals, they said.
The Supreme Court listed the case for further hearing on July 14.
In its June 16, 2023 judgement, the trial court acquitted the accused, holding that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. It also directed the constitution of an “acquittal committee” to initiate action against erring officers. In 2024, the complainant, Kusumavathi, Sowjanya’s mother, approached the Karnataka High Court seeking a fresh CBI investigation and directions to senior police officers in Bengaluru to act on the trial court’s findings.
On August 20, 2024, the high court dismissed the plea but observed that the acquittal of Santosh Rao raised “a begging question” that “there must be somebody else,” noting that the case “definitely demands re-investigation.”
Santhosh Rao, the man arrested for the crime was acquitted by the CBI Court on June 16, 2023. Throughout the legal proceedings, Sowjanya’s family maintained that Santhosh had been wrongfully implicated, alleging flaws in the investigation and claiming that the real perpetrators were shielded.