A man who spent nearly two-and-a-half years in prison on charges of murdering a woman has been cleared of the central allegation after she was traced alive in Karnataka’s Mandya district. District police chief has now ordered a probe into the police investigation and the confession on which the murder case was built.
Rajesh, 42, from Ragimuddanahalli in Pandavapura taluk, was arrested in August 2021 over the disappearance of Manjula, 38. Police alleged that he had killed her and disposed of her body in the Visvesvaraya Canal. He remained in judicial custody until securing bail on December 24, 2024.Manjula was traced in Nagamangala on November 11, after Rajesh approached the police with information that she was alive and living with another man. She told the police that she had left her home to escape an arranged marriage she did not want, subsequently married someone else and had been living with him. She also said she did not know Rajesh.
Mandya Superintendent of Police V J Shobha Rani confirmed the development on Thursday, saying the investigation had been transferred to the Srirangapatna Deputy Superintendent of Police. Police will decide on action against the officer who investigated the original case after receiving the report.The case originated with Manjula’s disappearance on June 23, 2019. Her husband and father Nagaraju subsequently lodged a complaint, following which Pandavapura police registered a missing-person case on July 3.
According to background, Manjula, daughter of Nagaraju from Pandavapura, was married to her maternal uncle Manjunath from Neelanakoppalu village in Srirangapatna taluk. The couple had no children. As her mother had passed away and she was unwell, Manjula had returned to her father’s house in May 2019 for treatment. On the night of June 24, she went missing while her father was away at work as a security guard. Despite searching for a week, family could not trace her.
Investigators reportedly found that her last phone call had been made using a mobile phone belonging to Rajesh, whom she had met at the Pandavapura bus stand. Manjula had borrowed his phone to make an urgent call. More than two years later, on August 11, 2021, two people approached the police, claiming Rajesh had told them he had murdered her.
SP Shobha Rani said, “On August 11, 2021, two persons informed the police that Rajesh had murdered Manjula and subsequently told them about it. The police registered an FIR under Section 302 of the IPC on the same day.”According to the SP, Rajesh subsequently confessed to the murder during interrogation. He claimed to have disposed of her body in the Visvesvaraya Canal. In earlier records, police also claimed he pushed her into Cauvery River near Paschimavahini in Srirangapatna.
“He confessed to the police that he had murdered Manjula because he was in a sexual relationship with her and could not marry another woman while she was alive. He also said that he had thrown the body into the Visvesvaraya Canal,” Shobha Rani said.
Rajesh, however, maintained that the confession was extracted through custodial torture. He accused the then Pandavapura police inspector Prabhakar and other investigating personnel of assaulting him, administering electric shocks and threatening to arrest members of his family.He allegedly told investigators that he had admitted to the murder because he feared further torture and action against his family, despite maintaining that he had not committed the crime. He further alleged that police took him to locations of their choice and instructed him on what to say during investigation and in preparation of scene-of-crime records.
Rajesh said he eventually confessed under pressure because he could not withstand the alleged torture. Now that Manjula has been found alive, he has demanded justice and action against those responsible.The discovery came after information about Manjula’s whereabouts reportedly reached Rajesh’s father. He immediately visited Mayigonahalli village in Nagamangala taluk along with his son and their lawyer advocate Natesh and traced the woman, who was living there with her second husband Nagendra from Chamarajanagar.
Speaking after being traced, Manjula said she had no knowledge of the missing person and murder complaints filed by her father. She also stated that Rajesh had never troubled her or caused her any harm. She revealed that she did not wish to marry her maternal uncle Manjunath. Instead, she was in love with Nagendra. She said she left with him, married him and lived in Tamil Nadu for several years before moving to Mayigonahalli.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday night, Rajesh lodged a complaint at Bindiganavile Police Station seeking legal action against those who filed the alleged false complaint and the police officers who conducted the investigation.Acting on Rajesh’s complaint, Bindiganavile police questioned Manjula, registered a Non-Cognizable Report and subsequently sent her to a women’s counselling centre in Nagamangala town.
SP Dr V.J. Shobharani said an inquiry would be conducted into possible lapses in the original investigation following Manjula’s discovery alive. She stated that the then investigating officer Police Inspector Prabhakar had retired. A Deputy Superintendent of Police has been directed to conduct an inquiry into the matter, and action will be taken against those found responsible,
“We have handed over the case to the Srirangapatna Deputy Superintendent of Police for a probe. Based on his report, we will initiate action against the investigating officer,” Shobha Rani said.
