The Supreme Court on Monday, September 21, ordered a reinvestigation into the 2012 rape and murder of 17-year-old Sowjanya in Karnataka’s Ujire. The court directed that a compliance report on the steps taken in the case be filed within three months.
The order comes more than a decade after Sowjanya was raped and murdered in October 2012. Despite investigations by the Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the person responsible for her death has not been identified.
The Supreme Court’s order follows a plea by Sowjanya’s mother, Kusumavathi, seeking a fresh investigation. She had alleged that crucial evidence was overlooked and raised concerns over gaps in the earlier CID and CBI probes.
Santhosh Rao, who was arrested in connection with the case, was acquitted by the CBI court on June 16, 2023. The trial court held that the prosecution had failed to establish the charges beyond reasonable doubt. It also directed the constitution of an acquittal committee to initiate action against officers found to have erred in the investigation.
Sowjanya’s family had consistently maintained that Santhosh was wrongly implicated and alleged serious lapses in the investigation. The family also alleged that the actual perpetrators had been shielded.
In 2024, Kusumavathi approached the Karnataka High Court seeking a fresh CBI investigation. On August 20, 2024, the High Court dismissed her plea but made observations on the need for further investigation. It noted that Rao’s acquittal raised the question of whether someone else was responsible and observed that the case “definitely demands re-investigation.”
This is a developing story.