Mangaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the 2012 rape and murder of 17-year-old Soujanya from Ujire visited key locations in Dharmasthala on Saturday to conduct a crime scene reconstruction and detailed site inspection as part of the renewed probe.
The team inspected Mannasanka, near the Netravati bathing ghat in Dharmasthala village, where Soujanya went missing on October 9, 2012, and the nearby forest area where her body was found the following day.
The inspection is a significant step in the fresh investigation, which follows a Supreme Court directive for a comprehensive re-examination of the case. The SIT is required to submit a compliance report within three months.
Forensic experts and officials join inspection
The inspection was led by senior IPS officer Lokesh Jagalasar, the SIT investigating officer, and ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team included experts from the Bengaluru Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO), government doctors, the local Village Administrative Officer and engineers from the Public Works Department.
The officials jointly examined the locations connected with Soujanya’s disappearance and the discovery of her body. The exercise involved revisiting the circumstances and sequence of events recorded during the original investigation.
Uncle and original witnesses present
Purandara Gowda, Soujanya’s uncle, who had lodged the initial police complaint after her body was discovered in 2012, was present during the reconstruction exercise.
Witnesses who had participated in the original mahazar proceedings, or spot inspection, also accompanied the team. They provided officials with details about the circumstances at the locations and the sequence of events as they remembered them from 2012.
Their inputs were considered during the site inspection as the SIT revisited the locations and examined the details documented during the initial investigation.
Fresh probe follows Supreme Court directive
Soujanya, a 17-year-old college student from Ujire, went missing in Dharmasthala on October 9, 2012. Her body was discovered in a forest area the following day. The case involved allegations of abduction, rape and murder.
Questions over alleged lapses in the initial investigation led to renewed demands for a comprehensive probe. The Supreme Court subsequently directed a fresh investigation and asked the Karnataka government to submit a report within three months.
The state government constituted the SIT to undertake the re-investigation. The team is now examining the circumstances surrounding the crime, revisiting the locations connected with the case and seeking to gather fresh evidence.
Saturday’s reconstruction is part of these efforts. The inspection of the places where Soujanya reportedly went missing and where her body was recovered is expected to help investigators re-examine the sequence of events and assess details that may be relevant to the renewed probe.
The SIT’s three-month reporting deadline adds urgency to the investigation, with the team required to submit its compliance report within the period specified by the Supreme Court.