Mandya: A Mandya woman presumed murdered seven years ago has resurfaced alive, exposing serious lapses in the investigation that led to a man being charged with her ‘murder’ and jailed for two-and-a-half years.
The man, Rajesh , now 36, who secured bail in 2024, has alleged that police tortured him into confessing to a crime he did not commit. The case brings back memories of one Suresh from Kodagu, who was similarly accused of ‘murder’ and incarcerated for more than two years following his wife Mallige’s disappearance – until she resurfaced in April 2025. In the current case, Manju, now 36, who went missing from Pandavapura in 2019, was traced in Nagamangala Thursday after Rajesh’s advocate Natesh received a tip-off about her. He remained in prison for nearly two-and-a-half years before securing bail in Feb 2024. The case began in 2019 when Manju’s father, Nagaraju, lodged a missing-person complaint at Pandavapura police station. In 2021, he filed a murder complaint, claiming that two persons, Anantha Padmanabha and Gurukumara, had told him that Rajesh had confessed to killing his daughter and throwing her body into the Cauvery River .
Because her family was forcing her into a marriage against her wishes and had since married another man and settled down, in her statement to police, Manju reportedly said she had left home voluntarily. Superintendent of police Shobharani confirmed that Manju was placed in a women’s shelter home. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Mysuru | Silver Rate in Mysuru | Bank Holidays in Mysuru | Public Holidays in Mysuru Stay updated with the latest Mysuru news.
She also said she did not even know Rajesh. Rajesh, a resident of Ragimuddanahalli village in Pandavapura taluk, Mandya, told reporters police inspector Prabhakar subjected him to custodial torture – including electric shocks to his private parts – to extract a confession. Police registered a murder case and arrested Rajesh, relying primarily on the fact that Manju had made her last call borrowing the phone from Rajesh, a stranger, while at a bus stop shortly before she went missing. Police have initiated a fresh inquiry into her disappearance and the subsequent ‘murder’ probe. Join conversation Share your thoughts in the comments Be respectful · TOI community guidelines Fearing that his family would also be implicated, he claimed, he admitted to the ‘murder’ despite not being involved in it. Download the TOI App.