CBI files appeal in Soujanya murder case

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an appeal in the High Court of Karnataka challenging the acquittal of the accused Santhosh Rao in the rape and murder case of Soujanya in Dharmasthala by a CBI Special Court on July 16, 2023.

The 17-year-old Soujanya, a student of SDM College in Ujire near Dharmasthala was murdered on October 9, 2012. The CBI had taken over the investigation and filed a charge sheet in 2015.

Santhosh Rao who spent six years in jail as an under trial was released following the Trial Court verdict. The appeal is yet to be listed before an HC bench for a hearing.

The CBI had sixty days to file the appeal. Earlier in September, the HC had refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking reinvestigation in the case.

The HC had observed while rejecting the PIL that an appeal against the acquittal should be filed by the investigating agency or the parents of the victim.

The petitioners were allowed to withdraw their PIL. The victim’s father had also filed a petition before that in 2018 seeking reinvestigation, which was rejected by the HC in 2021.