Mangaluru: The family members of 17-year-old Soujanya, whose body was found near Dharmasthala on October 9, 2012, urged the State government to reinvestigate her rape and murder. They also demanded action against Dakshina Kannada police officials who investigated the case and the doctor who did the post-mortem for allegedly “botching up the investigation.”  The 50th Additional City and Sessions Court Bengaluru, (or Special CBI Court), on June 16, 2023, acquitted the lone accused in the case Santosh Rao of charges of rape and murder of Soujanya near the bathing ghat on the outskirts of Dharmasthala.

Speaking during a press meeting, Soujanya’s mother Kusumavati said, “The post-mortem of our daughter has not been done properly and it appears that it has been done routinely. The police have not done any serious investigation into the rape and murder. We want the police to inquire into the three persons from Dharmasthala, whom we have suspected for a long time behind the murder. This is the least that the Congress government can do to compensate for Soujanya’s death”.

Also speaking, Kusumavati’s brother Vittal Gowda said, “The judgement acquitting Rao was not a surprise. The police had arrested an innocent person and did not inquire into the other three suspects in Dharmasthala. They also did not question all the witnesses and did not take into account other specific inputs that the family members had given. “The local Belthangady police, Criminal Investigation Department and CBI did not consider the inputs given by us during the investigation”.

He further said, “During the trial, we (family) had filed a petition before the CBI Court wherein they pointed out that the other three suspects had not been examined. They also pointed out in the petition that the autopsy report failed to record injuries on the victim’s body and the non-examination of mud filled in the victim’s private parts. We also pointed out that the Belthangady police collected the undergarment of the girl from the victim’s house instead of from the crime scene. Though the Special CBI court ordered a reinvestigation, the three suspects managed to get the order quashed in the Karnataka High Court”.

Mahesh Shetty Timarodi, an activist of Prajaprabhutva Vedike, a group that has been fighting to get justice for the family said, “The then Sub Inspector, two Police Inspectors, then Assistant Superintendent of Police of Puttur Sub-division and the Superintendent of Police should be held responsible for the poor investigation into the case. The doctor who conducted the autopsy is equally responsible for derailing the investigation. The post-mortem has not been done as required in a rape case. The case was mishandled in the primary stage and it made it hard for the CBI to find the actual offenders. A statue of Soujanya will be installed near the place of cremation of the victim soon”.