‘Shocks conscience’: Supreme Court orders fresh probe by SIT into 2012 Karnataka rape-murder

It directed the SIT to conclude the probe within three months and file its report before the court concerned.

Writing for the bench, Justice Sanjiv Sachdeva said, “In a case where a minor girl of 17 years of age is brutally raped and murdered, the manner in which the investigation had progressed and the manner in which the various investigating agencies conducted the investigation and gathered and evaluated the evidence shocks the very conscience of the court. The person who was prosecuted was held to be incapable of committing the offence. Clearly, the investigation has been conducted in a manner that causes injustice to the victim. The possibility of the real culprit(s) manipulating the investigation cannot be ruled out. Such lax and improper investigation gives a premium to the Investigating Officers who failed to do their job correctly and diligently.”

The judgment said, “Society would be failing in its duty if it does not provide justice to the victim of such a heinous crime by conducting a proper investigation and bringing the real culprits to the book.”

The victim had gone for her classes on October 9, 2012, but did not return home. The next day, her body was found in a bush near Mannasanka in Dharmasthala. Two men caught the accused Rao on October 11 and handed him over to the police. He, however, claimed that he was being falsely implicated. Following a massive public outcry, the case was later handed over to the Crime Branch and subsequently to the CBI. The investigations concluded that Rao was behind the crime.

The family, however, suspected the role of three others, including one who had apprehended Rao. Based on a plea by the victim’s father, the trial court ordered a fresh probe but this was set aside by the HC.

On June 16, 2023, the trial court acquitted Rao of murder and rape charges. Coming down heavily on the investigators, it said, “The prosecution had failed to prove that the accused had committed the acts alleged against him. There was no evidence to connect the accused with the crime. There were no circumstances to connect the accused with the charges levelled against him. The charges levelled remained unproved.” The Sessions Court further held that the investigation was “not properly conducted in the golden hour.”

The HC dismissed the appeal challenging the acquittal as well as a plea for a fresh probe, but said that “the acquittal judgment has a logical connection with the begging question in the sense that if Santhosh Rao was not the one who committed the crime, there must be somebody else. This definitely demands reinvestigation.”