Soujanya case: SIT collects victim’s mother’s blood sample

As part of reinvestigation into the rape and murder of 17-year-old Soujanya in October 2012, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Friday collected a blood sample from Soujanya’s mother, Kusumavathi Gowda, in Belthangady.

Ms. Gowda, whose special leave petition was accepted by the Supreme Court, which ordered a re-investigation, was called by the SIT before a magistrate in Belthangady. In the presence of the Magistrate, a taluk hospital medical officer collected the blood sample from Ms. Gowda. This sample will be sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for the preparation of a DNA profile, which will be used by the SIT for the reinvestigation of the case.

It was on September 21 that Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva ordered the State government to set up an SIT for a reinvestigation of the case within a period of three months. The State government set up an SIT headed by Inspector General of Police N. Shashikumar.

The SIT has gone through the case file and court judgments to form a detailed questionnaire related to the reinvestigation. Collecting the blood sample of Ms. Gowda was the first step in the reinvestigation. In the next few days, SIT officers are likely to be on the field to conduct questioning and collect all necessary details related to the murder.