Soujanya rape & murder: Court slams CBI, police for 'bungling' probe

February 14, 2017

Bengaluru, Feb 14: Four years into the sensational rape and murder of 17-year-old student Soujanya Gowda at Dharmasthala near Mangaluru, both the police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seem to have bungled the probe.

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A special CBI court was unsparing in its criticism of the central agency’s failure to carry out proper investigation and settle unanswered questions.

On February 7, the special court judge, B S Rekha, allowed an application filed by Soujanya’s father Chandappa Gowda for further investigation and directed the CBI to examine certain witnesses, who were not included in the charge sheet. Gowda had urged the court to direct the CBI to investigate the role played by three people from Dharmasthala — Uday Jain, Mallik Jain and Ashrith Jain.

During the trial, DNA expert Dr Vinod J Lakkappa had testified that the sample of hair recovered from the crime spot belonged to a person other than the accused, Santosh Rao. He also pointed out that police failed to recover any sample of blood, semen or sperm from the clothes of the accused.

The judge noted, “Keen observation of the circumstances of the case diary and the statements of some of the witnesses recorded by the Belthangady police reveal the role of these persons (Uday Jain, Mallik Jain and Ashrith Jain). None of the witnesses has seen the accused Santosh Rao in the vicinity of the place of occurrence either on the date of the incident or prior to it.”

Interestingly, most of the witnesses who have deposed before the court so far stated that it had rained heavily on the night of October 9, 2012, when Soujanya, a PUC student at SDM?College, Ujire, was raped and killed on her way back home.

The body was found the next morning near Belthangady. Interestingly, it was the Jains who had turned Rao over to the Belthangady police. The state government ordered a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probe into the case. In November 2013, the CID endorsed the local police investigation and said the crime was committed by Rao.

Judge Rekha observed, “The clothes of the victim were not stained with mud and the bag was not wet, even the books were not wet. Further, the undergarment of the victim was not secured by the local police from the place of occurrence.” The court further observed that the CBI had not taken serious note of the murder of one of the material witnesses in the case, Ravi Poojari, a local resident.

“The observations made by PW1 (prosecution witness number one — Soujanya’s father) are borne out from the records and even in my opinion also there are serious lapses on the part of the CBI in not conducting proper investigation (sic),” the court noted and directed the CBI to submit a report by April 24, 2017.

HC denies bail to suspect

The High Court of Karnataka has dismissed the bail petition of Santosh Rao, who is accused of raping and murdering Soujanya. Justice John Michael Cunha dismissed the petition as Rao’s lawyer failed to appear for the third consecutive hearing, reports DHNS from Bengaluru.

The CBI, which is investigating the horrific crime, stated that if Rao was let out on bail, he was likely to tamper with evidence in the case. In the statement of objection, the CBI said there were reasonable grounds to believe that Rao had committed the offence.

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DJ
 - 
Wednesday, 15 Feb 2017

For high profile people, Democracy is mere demo only.
And poor fight for religion, Rich enjoy this fight. God save this country

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News Network
March 14,2024

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Mangaluru, Mar 14: “Hindutva is my commitment and development is my priority,” said Indian army veteran and entrepreneur Captain Brijesh Chowta after the BJP high command announced a ticket to him from Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency.

Known as a BJP stronghold, Nalin Kumar Kateel has served as the MP of this constituency for the past 15 years.

Soon after the announcement was made, 42-year-old Chowta, who is also the BJP state secretary from Dakshina Kannada constituency, sought the blessings of his parents and went to Shree Sharavu Mahaganapathi Temple and visited the war memorial to offer tributes.

A BSc graduate from St Aloysius College, he completed his executive business Management program from the Indian Institute of Management, Indore.

He was commissioned into the 7th battalion of the 8 Gorkha Rifles and served in counter-insurgency operations in Assam and Manipur and was part of Elite Ghatak team. He also served as the adjutant to the battalion. He has been associated with the BJP since 2013. He is the president of Mangaluru Kambala and organiser of Mangaluru Lit Fest.

“Humbled and grateful to our party seniors led by our commander-in-chief PM Narendra Modi for giving me this opportunity to be our party’s candidate and representative of his work and vision in Dakshina Kannada. I pledge to continue to work with even greater rigour for the welfare of our region and people driven by the mantra of ‘Nation First’. I humbly bow down to all our karyakartas & everyone who stood by me & toiled with me to make this happen. Our task has just begun, as we work towards making Dakshina Kannada the number one in the state,” Captain Chowta said on X.

Kateel welcomes change 

Meanwhile, sitting Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel has welcomed the party’s decision to field Capt Brijesh Chowta as the BJP candidate for Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency.

He said the change aligns with the party’s strategy of fostering new talent to broaden its base and activities. He hoped that he will win by a margin of more than 3 lakh votes.

Soon after the list was announced on Wednesday, the three-time MP told reporters that he has brought projects worth about Rs 1 lakh crore during the last 10 years, under the Modi government.

He thanked the party for giving him a big responsibility of leading the party in the state. “I have worked honestly,” he said.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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At least seven people have been killed when Israeli warplanes bombed an emergency center in southern Lebanon near the border with the 1948 Israeli-occupied territories with air-to-surface missiles, according to Lebanese security sources.

Two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity said early on Wednesday that the strike targeted the Islamic Group’s emergency and relief center in Lebanon’s southern village of Habbariyeh.

Jamaa Islamiya, a Lebanese group closely linked to the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, said in a statement that “a number” of people had been killed, and called the strike a “heinous crime.”

An official from the group said “seven rescuers” were killed in the aerial assault.

Another Jamaa Islamiya official, also requesting anonymity, said a dozen medical staff were in the emergency center at the time of the strike, adding that bodies were being pulled from the rubble.

Lebanese lawmaker Hassan Mrad said “the Israeli aggression on Habbariyeh adds to the long list of Israeli crimes.”

Israel has been launching air strikes against Lebanon since the beginning of its onslaught against the Gaza Strip in early October.

An Israeli strike knocked down part of a building in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh on February 14, killing seven members of the same family, including a child, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said. A boy initially reported missing was found alive under the rubble.

In a separate Israeli attack, a woman and her two children were killed in the village of as-Sawana in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli regime launched its devastating hostilities in the Gaza Strip on October 7 after the territory’s Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity.

Israel's raids have resulted in retaliatory strikes from Hezbollah in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

The movement has vowed to keep up its retaliatory operations as long as the Tel Aviv regime continues its onslaught on Gaza.

The Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed at least 32,414 people, most of them women and children. Another 74,787 individuals have also been wounded.

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News Network
March 28,2024

An Indian expatriate, hailing from Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka, who was detained in Jeddah jail in an alleged cyber case, was set free recently. He is allowed to continue his work in the same company. 

The 49-year-old Mangalurean, has been working for a Maintenance company in Jeddah for more than 13 years. He is known for his efficiency and sincerity in the company with good experience in his field of work. 

His company usually assigned him on duty in Jeddah sea port to take the delivery of the goods consigned to his company. As a part of his duty, he normally takes pictures of the goods before the transportation. He did the same in February 2023 too. 

The security personnel informed the police about his act that amounts to be a violation of the port security rule. He was unaware of the rule as he was doing it normally in the port during the release of the goods. Since then, he was detained by the police on the charge of photographing inside the port premises. After more than 6 months detention, he was released and allowed to work in the same company. 

The detainee’s brother based in Jeddah was constantly pursuing the case.

P A Hameed Padubidri, a pro-bono NRI lawyer and social worker based in Riyadh, extended his socio-humanitarian help in this case upon the request of his family and relatives. 

He actively involved trying to set him free from the jail on humanitarian grounds with the coordination and help of the Consulate General of India (CGI) Jeddah. The CGI keenly followed up the case with the concerned Saudi authorities. He was released from the jail recently and shared his happiness with his family and thanked good samaritans. 

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