Mangaluru, Oct 31 : The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sensational Soujanya rape and murder case on Saturday recreated the crime scene and collected soil samples from the spot as part of the fresh investigation ordered by the Supreme Court.
A team of senior police officers inspected the crime scene and reconstructed the sequence of events relating to the incident that took place 14 years ago. The exercise was conducted to gather fresh evidence and examine the circumstances surrounding the crime.
The investigation was led by SIT SP Lokesh B. Jagalasar and ACP Manoj Kumar Naik. Soujanya's relatives, Purandara Gowda and Tukaram Gowda, were also present during the inspection. Purandara Gowda, who had first spotted Soujanya's body after the crime, is also the complainant in the case.
The entire crime scene was cordoned off with barricades and security tapes, and the public was prohibited from entering the area. The SIT team collected evidence and other materials from the spot as part of the investigation.
The police also barricaded the road adjoining the forest area from where Soujanya was allegedly abducted while returning home after getting off a bus. Her body was subsequently found in the nearby forest area.
The authorities have also preserved the soil from the location where Soujanya's body was recovered.
Experts from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and the Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) team, along with Public Works Department (PWD) engineers, participated in the exercise. The experts arrived from Bengaluru to assist the SIT in the investigation.
Personnel from the jurisdictional Dharmasthala police station have been deployed to provide security at the crime scene.
The fresh investigation follows the Supreme Court's direction to re-investigate the 14-year-old case.
The Supreme Court of India ordered a fresh 90-day Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the October 2012 rape and murder of 17-year-old Soujanya in Dharmasthala, Karnataka.
In October 2012, Soujanya, a 17-year-old pre-university student from Ujire near Dharmasthala, went missing and was later found dead near the Nethravathi River with severe signs of assault and sexual violence.
Santhosh Rao was arrested early in the investigation, but a CBI special court acquitted him in June 2023 due to a lack of sufficient evidence linking him to the crime.
Following the Karnataka High Court's dismissal of petitions seeking further investigation in 2024, Soujanya's mother, Kusumavathi Gowda, appealed to the Supreme Court.
On September 21, 2026, the Supreme Court set aside earlier rulings, severely criticising the lapses by the Karnataka Police, Crime Branch, and CBI, and directed a de novo (fresh) investigation.
--IANS
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