Mangaluru : Activists and the mother of the 17-year-old girl, who was raped and murdered in 2012, have announced a ‘Walk for Justice’ (Nyayada Nadige) to express gratitude to all the lawyers who stood by them, the social media, YouTube channels, newspapers, the media, and the people who prayed for the reinvestigation into the Dharmasthala rape and murder case.
Addressing a news conference in Ujire on Tuesday, the mother of the victim, activists Mahesh Shetty Thimarody and Girish Mattennavar said that a five-kilometre walk for justice will be held from Kunjarpa, Ujire to Belthangady town on Oct 10, to mark 14 years since the tragic death of the victim.
The victim’s mother said that she expects a proper investigation through the new SIT.
Thimarody said that following a relentless 14-year legal struggle, the Supreme Court on Sept 22, acting on the SLP petition filed by her mother, ordered the state govt to form a new SIT and reinvestigate the murder and gang-rape case registered at Belthangady police station.
However, the state govt has halted that investigation and kept the SIT report hidden from public, they said and demanded that the previous SIT report must be disclosed to the media. “This has shed new light on a case that was almost forgotten. No matter who are the officers involved in the new SIT, our team of advocates will watch the investigation closely,” he added. The SIT must conduct an impartial investigation without threatening or offering inducements to the witnesses and informants at any stage of the investigation. Action must be taken against individuals who conspire to derail the investigation. Appropriate legal action must be taken against the media trial of activists, lawyers, witnesses and informants on social media and other mass media, they demanded. Based on the report submitted by the previous SIT in the Dharmasthala mass burial case, the State Women’s Commission had requested the continuation of the SIT investigation to track down the murderers.