Soujanya case: SIT conducts crime scene reconstruction at Dharmasthala’s Mannasanka

Soujanya case: SIT conducts crime scene reconstruction at Dharmasthala’s Mannasanka

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Oct 31, 2026: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has taken up the fresh investigation into the Soujanya rape and murder case, on Saturday visited the crime scene at Mannasanka in Dharmasthala and conducted a detailed crime scene reconstruction and spot inspection.

The latest investigative exercise comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s direction to the Karnataka government to constitute a new SIT and submit a compliance report within three months.

The SIT team visited Mannasanka, near the Netravathi bathing ghat in Dharmasthala, where 17-year-old college student Soujanya went missing on October 9, 2012. The team also inspected the forest area where her body was found the following day.

The inspection was led by senior IPS officer Lokesh Jagalasar, the SIT investigating officer, and ACP Manoj Kumar. Experts from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Bengaluru, the Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) team, government medical officers, the local village administrative officer and engineers from the Public Works Department (PWD) jointly examined the site.

During the crime scene reconstruction, Soujanya’s uncle Purandara Gowda, who had first informed the police after her body was found in 2012, and witnesses to the original spot mahazar were also present. They reportedly explained the circumstances and sequence of events at the time to the investigating officers.

Soujanya, a 17-year-old college student from Dharmasthala in Belthangady taluk, was reported missing on October 9, 2012. Her body was recovered from a forest area the next day. The case involved allegations of abduction, rape and murder.

Following concerns over lapses in the earlier investigation, the Supreme Court recently directed a fresh and comprehensive probe, with the state government required to submit a report within three months.

With the SIT now intensifying its investigation, the team is focusing on collecting fresh evidence and reconstructing the crime scene as part of its efforts to take the investigation forward.