Sowjanya case to be probed by CBI, announces Home Minister

Mangalore Today News Network

 Belthangady, Nov 6, 2013 : In a welcome relief to the family of Sowjanya and also the innumerous organizations that have been relentlessly protesting across the state for Justice in the case, the State Government, has on November 6, Wednesday announced its  decision to entrust the investigation into the Sowjanya rape and murder   case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The announcement was made by State Home Minister KJ George at Davangere. This announcement comes hardly a few days after the CID  which had investigated into the case submitted its report to the government naming the lone person arrested Santosh Rao himself as the accused in the case. The CID report had also cleared   Dr Veerendra Heggade family  in the backdrop of Dr Heggade’s nephew Nischal Jain named one of the accused by the  Sowjanya family and other protestors.

Seventeen year old Sowjanya, a student of SDM College Ujire who went missing on October 9, 2012 while on her way home from college,was found dead at Pangala the next morning.  Though police had arrested one Santosh Rao, said to be mentally ill in connection with the killing, the family of Sowjanya as well as locals were of the strong view that he was not the killer and that there were more than one person behind the case.

Meanwhile, the agitation for justice in the case picked up exactly one year after the gruesome incident when Sowjanya’s family and Mahesh Shetty Thimarody blamed ‘powerful  forces’ of Dharmasthala behind the incident. They even blamed three youth of Dharmasthala and Dr Heggade’s nephew  as the accused.

Dr Heggade had subsequently convened a press meet to deny the allegations and also had produced the visa copy of his nephew to prove that he was in US when the incident took place.

Dr Heggade had also recently written to the state government  requesting for  a CBI probe into the case.

It would now be interesting to watch the next move of the organizations including Prajaprabhutva Vedike which are in the lead in the protest as  they have been demanding a CBI probe under Supreme Court surveillance.