Youth who spent two and a half years in jail in false murder case proven innocent, allegedly dead woman found alive

According to a Hindustan Times report, a shocking case has come to light in Karnataka's Mandya district where a man who served nearly two and a half years of imprisonment on murder charges has been cleared of the principal charge as the woman for whose murder he was framed has been found alive from Mandya district. Taking the seriousness of this matter into account, the district police chief has ordered a high-level inquiry into the original police investigation and the confession made at that time.

This entire sequence of events began with the sudden disappearance of 38-year-old Manjula on 23 June 2019. Forty-two-year-old Rajesh, a resident of Ragimuddanahalli village in Pandavapura taluk, was arrested in August 2021 in connection with the abduction and murder of Manjula. The police had surmised that he had killed the woman and thrown her body into the Visvesvaraya canal. He subsequently remained in judicial custody until he was released on bail on 24 December 2024.

According to the Hindustan Times report, when Rajesh himself contacted the police and provided information that Manjula was alive and living with someone else, she was traced from Nagamangala on 11 November. During interrogation, Manjula told the police that she had run away from home to escape an arranged marriage by her family which she did not wish to perform. She subsequently married another person and started living with him. She also clarified that she does not even know Rajesh.

Mandya Superintendent of Police V. J. Shobha Rani confirmed this matter to the media on Thursday and stated that this entire investigation has been handed over to the Deputy Superintendent of Police of Srirangapatna. A decision regarding taking appropriate action against the officer who investigated the original case will be taken after receiving the police investigation report.

At the beginning of this episode, a complaint was lodged by Manjula's husband, on the basis of which Pandavapura police registered a missing case on 3 July. At that time, the investigators found that her last phone call was made through Rajesh's mobile phone found at the Pandavapura bus stand.

More than two years after this incident, on 11 August 2021, two individuals appeared before the police and claimed that Rajesh had told them that he himself had murdered Manjula. According to SP Shobha Rani, an FIR was registered by the police on the same day under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, and during custodial interrogation, Rajesh even confessed to the murder. He had claimed that due to sexual relations with Manjula and being unable to marry another person while she was alive, he took this step and dumped the body into the canal. However, Rajesh always maintained that this confession was extracted from him forcibly by inflicting atrocities in police custody. He leveled serious allegations against the then police inspector of Pandavapura and other investigators of assaulting him, giving electric shocks, and threatening to arrest his family members. He also stated that despite being innocent, distressed by family fear and torture, he had confessed to the crime.

Manjula being found alive has raised serious questions over the functioning style of the original investigation team. It has also come to light that Rajesh's advocate Natesh helped in locating Manjula after obtaining information about her whereabouts. The police have summoned Manjula to obtain details regarding the circumstances of her disappearance and her life in Nagamangala. SP Shobha Rani reiterated that this matter has been handed over to the DySP of Srirangapatna and further action will be taken on the basis of the investigation report.