Bengaluru, Sep 24 (IANS) The Karnataka government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a fresh probe into the Soujanya gang rape and murder case registered at Belthangady Police Station in 2012, the Home Ministry said late Thursday night.
The SIT has been formed in accordance with directions of the Supreme Court.
N. Shashikumar, IPS, has been appointed as the head of the SIT. Members include C.K. Sudheer Kumar Reddy, IPS, Nikhila James, IPS, Lokesh Jagalasar, IPS, and Venkatesh Prasanna.
According to the government order, the investigation will be conducted in light of the Supreme Court’s directions. The SIT has been instructed to complete the probe within three months and submit its report to the concerned court.
The Soujanya case dates back to October 2012, when 17-year-old Soujanya, a second-year pre-university student at SDM College in Ujire, went missing while returning home in Belthangady taluk of Mangaluru district.
Her family lodged a missing-person complaint at Belthangady police station on October 9, 2012. Her body was found the following day in a bush near Mannasanka, after which rape and murder charges were added.
The Belthangady police initially investigated, then handed it over to the Karnataka CID and later the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Police arrested and prosecuted Santhosh Rao as the sole accused.
However, a CBI special court acquitted him in June 2023, holding that the prosecution had failed to establish charges with sufficient evidence. The CBI later challenged the acquittal before the Karnataka High Court.
On September 21, 2026, the Supreme Court ordered a fresh de novo investigation. A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva directed the Karnataka government to constitute an SIT, barring officers who had participated in earlier investigations from joining the new team.
The court also said the fresh investigation must be completed within three months and a report submitted to the concerned court.
–IANS
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