सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने धर्मस्थला के पास 2012 के बलात्कार‑हत्या मामले की नई जांच का आदेश दिया

Supreme Court orders re-probe into 2012 rape & murder of 17-year-old girl near Dharmasthala

The apex court directed that officers involved in the previous investigations should not be part of the fresh probe. It also sought an action-taken report within three months.

Synopsis: The victim, a pre-university student, was reported missing on 9 October 2012 while returning home from college. Her body was found the following day near Ujire. Local police initially investigated the case, then handed it over to the CID before the CBI took over the probe. A CBI special court in Bengaluru acquitted Santhosh Rao, who was arrested and prosecuted in connection with the case.

The sensational 2012 Ujire rape-and-murder case involving a 17-year-old student is once again back in the spotlight, with the Supreme Court on Monday, 21 September, ordering a fresh investigation into the crime.

The apex court issued the directive while hearing the deceased girl’s mother, who sought the reinvestigation into the case after alleging lapses in the earlier probes by the Karnataka CID and the CBI.

According to reports, the court directed that officers involved in the previous investigations should not be part of the fresh probe. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva passed the order and sought a compliance report on the steps taken within three months.

The victim, a pre-university student, was reported missing on 9 October 2012 while returning home from college. Her body was found the following day near Ujire. Local police initially investigated the case and later handed it over to the CID before the CBI took over the probe.

A CBI special court in Bengaluru acquitted Santhosh Rao, who was arrested and prosecuted in connection with the case, in June 2023 after the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. The trial court had also raised concerns over lapses in the investigation.

The girl’s mother subsequently approached the Karnataka High Court seeking a fresh investigation. The High Court dismissed her petition in August 2024, following which she approached the Supreme Court.

The case had catapulted into public focus in 2025 after a former sanitation worker at the Dharmasthala Manjunatha temple, alleged that between 1995 and 2014, he was forced under death threats to dispose of hundreds of bodies, many showing signs of sexual violence and brutal murders.

However, the SIT later arrested the man for raising the allegations.

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