CBI court acquits vagabond held in 2012 college girl rape-murder case in Dakshina Kannada

“The bail bond of the accused and that of his surety shall continue for a period of six months in terms of S.437(a) of Cr.P.C., to ensure his appearance before the higher court in case of any appeal or revision,” the court said in its verdict.

The college student was raped and murdered when she was returning home from her college on October 9, 2012. Her parents searched for her after she did not return home from college and her body was found the next day in a wooded area in the region along which the girl used to walk home.

The police initially arrested Santhosh Rao, 34, at the time, a vagabond who lived in a temporary shelter around 50 metre from the site where the body was found. The police also claimed that a watch that the victim had worn was found with the accused.

Locals, however, alleged that Rao was being falsely implicated in the case and that local youths with high connections in the region were behind the rape and murder.

Later, the case was handed over to the CID police for investigation. But the CID also named Rao as the accused. The case was handed over to the CBI under pressure from the local community in Dakshina Kannada when the Congress was in power between 2013-2018.

Following the CBI investigation, Rao was charged with the murder on September 19, 2016. He was accused of waylaying the victim while she was walking home after disembarking from a bus on the evening of October 9, 2012.

Rao did not respond to the charges when they were read out to him in the open by the special judge at the time.