Three years after the rape and murder of a Latvian woman in Kovalam, the victim’s sister returned to Kerala on Tuesday and has approached the high court to seek an order to speed up trial at the chief judicial magistrate court here.
The sister, who also travelled with the 33-year-old victim in 2018, filed a petition with the high court on October 18 through her lawyer. The high court is likely to take up the matter on November 5, according to an official.
The sister said she had sent many emails to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office and state police chief Loknath Behra requesting intervention but to no avail.
“I want justice for my sister. But things are moving at a snail’s pace. Many assurances were given to me earlier, but all fell flat,” she said, adding that she is expecting a favourable decision from the high court.
The two sisters came to Kerala for an Ayurveda treatment in 2018, during which the elder sister went missing on March 14. The victim’s decomposed body was found from an isolated spot near Kovalam beach on April 21 and was later identified by the sister by her dress. Two weeks later, the police arrested two persons, an unauthorised tourist guide identified as P Udayan and one Umesh, a drug peddler, in connection with the rape and murder case.
The police registered a case against the accused persons under 302 (murder) and 375 (rape) sections of the Indian Penal Code. They were later granted bail.
According to the police, Udayan, fluent in many foreign languages, first spotted the victim sitting alone at the beach. He befriended her and promised to get her some drugs, after which he took her to a deserted spot in a fibre boat. There, Umesh joined him, the police said.
The accused then raped her, and after she threatened to report the incident, strangled her to death. They later tied the body to a tree to make it look like a suicide, the police added.
“It is a fact that the trial is yet to start in the case. After pandemic, physical trials are not happening, and it delayed many cases,” said an official of the district court.
