Karnataka govt forms new SIT to reinvestigate Sowjanya murder

The Karnataka government on Thursday constituted a five member special investigation team (SIT) to reinvestigate the 2012 rape and murder of 17 year old Sowjanya in Dharmasthala, giving the team three months to complete the probe and submit its report to the competent court.

The SIT will be headed by inspector general of police (IGP) N Shashi Kumar. Its other members are C H Sudheer Kumar Reddy, Mangaluru City police commissioner; Nisha James, superintendent of police, Intelligence; Lokesh Jagalsar, superintendent of police, CID; and Venkatesh Prasanna, additional superintendent of police, Bengaluru Rural.

The team has been given jurisdiction across Karnataka and has been declared a police station for the state under Section 2(1)(u) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023. Its investigating officers have been authorised to submit a police report before the competent court under Section 193 of the law, a statement from the home department said.

Also Read: Dharmasthala’s Veerendra Heggade rejects allegations, supports SIT probe into Soujanya case: Report

The SIT will function under the supervision of the director general and inspector general of police (IGP). Once the investigation is completed, the DG and IGP will submit a report to the state government.

The fresh investigation follows a September 21 order of the Supreme Court on a petition filed by Sowjanya’s mother, Kusumavathi Gowda. She had sought a fresh probe after earlier investigations by the Karnataka CID and the Central Bureau of Investigation failed to establish who was responsible for the crime.

Sowjanya, a student of SDM College in Ujire, went missing on October 9, 2012, while returning home. Her body was found the next day in a forested area near the Nethravathi River in Dharmasthala. A postmortem examination found that she was sexually assaulted before her death.

Santhosh Rao, the sole accused in the case, was acquitted by a trial court in June 2023 after spending nearly six years in custody.

Kusumavathi approached the Karnataka High Court in 2024 seeking a fresh investigation, but her petition was dismissed. She subsequently moved the Supreme Court. The state government had initially opposed her plea but later told the court that it was willing to constitute an SIT.