Dharmasthala: The 2012 rape and murder of 17-year-old Sowjanya in Ujire has taken a fresh turn after the Supreme Court on Monday ordered a reinvestigation into the case. The court has directed that the fresh probe be completed within three months and a report submitted before it.
The development comes nearly 14 years after Sowjanya was raped and murdered in October 2012. The case had previously been investigated by the Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and later by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). However, the identity of the person responsible for the crime has remained unresolved.
Supreme Court orders fresh investigation
The Supreme Court’s direction follows a plea by Sowjanya’s mother, Kusumavathi Gowda, who sought a fresh investigation into the circumstances surrounding her daughter’s death.
The plea raised concerns over the earlier investigations and alleged that crucial evidence had not been properly examined. The Karnataka High Court had dismissed her plea in August 2024. However, while dealing with the matter, the High Court had made observations concerning the possibility that someone other than Santhosh Rao could have been responsible after Rao was acquitted in the case.
The Supreme Court has now directed a fresh investigation and stipulated a three-month deadline for completing the probe and submitting the report. Reports on the order have also stated that officers involved in the earlier investigation are to be kept out of the fresh probe.
Sowjanya case remained unresolved after acquittal
Sowjanya, a 17-year-old from the Ujire area, was raped and murdered in October 2012. The case subsequently went through investigations by the Karnataka CID and the CBI.
Santhosh Rao was arrested in connection with the case and faced trial before a CBI special court. However, he was acquitted in June 2023 on the ground that the prosecution had not established the case against him with sufficient evidence.
The acquittal left the investigation without a person convicted for Sowjanya’s rape and murder.
Sowjanya’s family had maintained that Rao had been wrongly implicated and had sought a renewed investigation to establish what happened to the teenager and identify those responsible.
The family’s subsequent legal efforts culminated in the plea before the Karnataka High Court and, later, the Supreme Court.
High Court had considered possibility of another accused
Kusumavathi approached the Karnataka High Court in 2024 seeking a fresh CBI investigation.
Although the High Court dismissed the plea on August 20, 2024, its observations included consideration of whether a person other than Rao could have been responsible for the crime following his acquittal.
The latest Supreme Court order has now created a fresh investigative process nearly a decade and a half after the murder.
The investigating team will have to revisit the available evidence and examine the circumstances surrounding Sowjanya’s death in light of the court’s directions.
Case resurfaced amid Dharmasthala allegations
The Sowjanya case returned to public attention in 2025 following allegations made by a former sanitation worker associated with a prominent temple in the Dharmasthala region.
In a complaint dated June 3, the whistleblower alleged that he had been forced to bury or burn hundreds of bodies, including women and students whom he claimed showed signs of sexual assault and murder. He also submitted photographs that he said depicted skeletal remains.
The allegations prompted the Karnataka government to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to examine the claims relating to alleged mass burials.
The SIT’s mandate, however, was focused on the allegations made by the whistleblower. Officials had maintained that the separate Sowjanya case could not simply be reopened without a court order.
The whistleblower was subsequently arrested by the SIT on perjury-related charges. The allegations concerning the purported mass burials and the skeletal remains have remained subjects of investigation.
The renewed attention also led Sowjanya’s family and activists to reiterate their demand for a fresh examination of the 2012 rape-murder case.
Activists welcome Supreme Court order
Activist Mahesh Shetty Thimarodi, who has campaigned for a fresh investigation into the Sowjanya case, welcomed the Supreme Court’s direction.
Speaking to India Today Digital, Thimarodi said activists had been demanding a fresh investigation and Supreme Court monitoring since their campaign began.
The Supreme Court’s order now provides a defined three-month period for the fresh investigation, after which the investigating team is required to submit its report to the court.
Fresh probe to examine unresolved questions
The latest development does not itself establish who committed the crime. The fresh investigation will have to determine whether new or previously overlooked evidence can establish the circumstances of Sowjanya’s rape and murder and identify those responsible.
The case has remained unresolved despite investigations by state and central agencies and the acquittal of the accused who had faced trial.
With the Supreme Court now ordering a fresh probe, attention will turn to the investigating team’s findings and the report that is to be submitted within three months.
For Sowjanya’s family, the order marks a new stage in their long-running effort to have the circumstances surrounding her death examined again through a fresh investigation.