Dharmasthala Rape-Murder Case: Supreme Court Orders Fresh Probe Into 2012 Soujanya Killing

The Supreme Court has asked the Karnataka police to reopen the case of a 17-year-old girl Soujanya who was raped and killed in the state in 2012 and complete the investigation within three months.

The court has instructed investigating officials of the police to complete the fresh investigation in three months and provide a report.

Soujanya's development follows the mother, Kusumavathi Gowda, requesting the case to be re-investigated, which she claimed failed to take into consideration important evidence and investigation deficiencies.

Soujanya was raped and killed in Ujire, Karnataka in October 2012. The case was investigated by the Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and then the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

No definitive evidence was found against the person who committed the crime despite the investigations.

The Supreme Court's recent order follows Soujnya's mother filing an application with the court for a new investigation. The court has also ruled that officers from the earlier investigation are not allowed to be part of the new investigation, according to reports.

Earlier Santhosh Rao Was Acquitted

In June 2023, Santhosh Rao, who had been arrested in relation to the death of Soujanya, was acquitted by a CBI special court after the prosecution failed to prove it against him beyond a reasonable doubt.

The acquittal left unanswered as the central question remains same that who was responsible for Soujanya's rape and murder.

Her family has stated that the Department of Police is not doing sufficient investigation and Rao was falsely implicated. They had also allegedly said that the true accused have not been held accountable.

Soujanya's mother approached the Karnataka High Court in 2024, requesting a fresh investigation into the crime by the CBI. The High Court rejected the plea on August 20, 2024, but the observations made included queries as to whether anyone else other than Rao could have been behind the crime.

The case was returned to the focus as a result of allegations in Dharmasthala.

In 2025, the Soujanya case was brought back into the public eye after being brought up by a former sanitation worker from the Dharmasthala area.

The whistle-blower, who is believed to have been a medical officer, stated in a complaint filed in June that he was forced to bury or burn scores of bodies, including that of women and students he said had been sexually assaulted or murdered. He also sent in photographs which he claimed depicted skeletons.

The allegations led the Karnataka government to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the allegations of mass burials.

The investigation of the SIT, however, was targeted at those accusations, and not at the 2012 Soujanya case directly. The authorities had insisted that the case of the rape-murder cannot be reopened without a court order.

The whistleblower was then arrested by the SIT on charges of perjury and questions about his allegations and the found bones continued to be part of the investigation.

Soujanya's long-time advocate Mahesh Shetty Thimarodi welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict.

He said that activists had been hoping that the Supreme Court would order a court-monitored investigation on the case for years and its order as a great move in the case.

The fresh investigation will now look into the circumstances of Soujanya's death, and will determine who is responsible for the 2012 crime. The investigating team has three months to report back to the Supreme Court.

The order signals a new stage in a case that had been under investigation by several agencies and the acquittal of the former accused man.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susmita Modak

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Always love to raise the unraised matter. In a world of worries, I am always ready to come over my comfort zone and taking the step ahead of spreading awareness.

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