Even after 11 years, rape & murder case of girl student from K'taka still remains mystery

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Belthangady: The CBI court on Friday delivered its verdict in the highly-publicized rape and murder case of Saujanya, a student of SDM College and a resident of Dharmastala, which had sent shockwaves across the country. After eleven years, the court acquitted the primary suspect, Santosh Rao, due to insufficient evidence.

The incident had sparked widespread protests along the coast when Saujanya, who was returning from college, was brutally raped and murdered. Santosh Rao was arrested by the police in connection with the case. However, after extensive deliberations, Judge CB Santosh of the CBI court has acquitted the suspect, citing a lack of substantial evidence.

Saujanya, a second PUC student at SDM College, Ujire, reportedly went missing on October 9, 2012. Her father, Chandrappa Gowda, filed a complaint at the Belthangady police station. The victim's lifeless body was discovered near Dharmastala, where she had been raped and murdered. Initial investigations were carried out by the police before the case was handed over to the CID.

However, protests erupted, alleging mishandling of the investigation by the CID. Consequently, the state government transferred the case to the CBI. The CBI officials conducted investigations until 2016 and compiled a chargesheet. Nevertheless, Saujanya's father criticized the CBI's chargesheet, deeming it inadequate, and demanded further investigation.

In 2018, the single bench judge K Somashekar dismissed the petition filed by Saujanya's father, seeking reinvestigation. The High Court declined to direct the CBI to reopen the rape and murder case. The CBI charge sheet identified Santosh Rao as the primary suspect. Today, the CBI court hearing the case announced its verdict. Mohith Kumar and Navin Kumar represented Santosh Rao in the proceedings.

The incident

Seventeen-year-old Saujanya, daughter of Chandappa Gowda and Kusumavati, residing in Pangalamane, Dharmasthala, reportedly left her college on October 9, 2012 evening but did not return home. Despite the frantic search by her family throughout the night, there was no trace of Saujanya and on the following morning her dead body was found on the roadside leading to Pangala which deviates from the main road, a little away from Netravati bathing ghat. 

It was revealed that she fell victim to the lust of some unscrupulous elements who raped and murdered her. The incident triggered protests and people irrespective of caste, creed and religion took part in the same. Later a youth who was suspiciously wandering near Bahubali hill was nabbed by a few locals including Mallik Jain, Dhiraj Jain and Uday Jain who handed him over to the police. A case was registered and the accused youth was identified as Santosh Rao, a contract labourer from Kundapura.

According to reports following the incident, when Saujanya was returning home from the college, a bus belonging to her own College was passing that way at the same time. A woman lecturer allegedly saw four men pulling Saujanya and alerted the driver about it. However the driver seemed to have said that such things are common in Dharmasthala and proceeded undeterred.

When the news of Saujanya’s murder spread the following morning, the woman lecturer volunteered to report but was reportedly silenced by 'unknown forces.' Despite massive protests the investigation into the case was derailed following which the state administration led by the BJP handed over the case to Criminal Investigation Department (CID). But soon some of the officials opted for voluntary transfers and the probe further got delayed.

The victim’s father later filed a complaint with the CID deputy superintendent against Mallik Jain, Dhiraj Jain and Uday Jain. It was alleged that the officers failed to interrogate the trio. Further the victim’s father also said that the police projected him as mentally unsound. Later the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet naming Santosh Rao, as the only accused in the case.

However, based on the complaint, Mallik Dhiraj and Uday were summoned by the police for an inquiry following which the three held a press meet in Mangaluru claiming that they were being wrongly accused in the case. Other than these three, there were two other witnesses, who had helped in nabbing Santosh Rao. One of them, Ravi Pujary, died under mysterious circumstances, while Gopalakrishna died of illness.

Mahesh Shetty Thimarodi, a former Hindutva leader who spearheaded the 'Justice for Saujanya' movement in the district, at a press conference in Mangaluru, alleged that the place where Saujanya’s body was found is believed to be an abode of Lord Manjunatha who is known to fulfill the wishes of his devotees.

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