Latvian woman tourist murder: Opposition UDF urges Kerala govt to expedite trial

The opposition Congress-led UDF in Kerala on Wednesday urged the Left government to hand over to a fast-track court and expedite trial in a case of rape and murder of a Latvian woman tourist at Kovalam beach resort here three years ago.

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala):The opposition Congress-led UDF in Kerala on Wednesday urged the Left government to hand over to a fast-track court and expedite trial in a case of rape and murder of a Latvian woman tourist at Kovalam beach resort here three years ago. A new special prosecutor should be appointed for this at the earliest and justice should be ensured to the deceased woman's family, demanded the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan in the state Assembly.

He brought the issue to the notice of the House through a submission. "The accused have received bail as the charge-sheet was not submitted within 90 days in the case. The trial is yet to be started even after three-and-a-half years after the crime," Satheesan told the Assembly.

He also wanted Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to hand over the case, which had brought disgrace to the State, to a fast-track court to ensure justice to the deceased woman's family. Vijayan, in his reply, said the case is now under the consideration of the principal session's court here and G Mohanraj has been appointed as the special public prosecutor.

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"The government has not received any request to appoint a new person as special public prosecutor. If such a request is received, the opinion of the state police chief and the Director General of Prosecution will be sought and an appropriate decision will be taken," the Chief Minister added.

The Kerala police had filed the charge-sheet in the murder of the woman tourist at Kovalam, naming two local drug-peddlers as the accused, on August 30, 2018. The Latvian tourist had gone missing under mysterious circumstances from Kovalam on March 14 that year. Her highly decomposed headless body was recovered from a mangrove forest at nearby Thiruvallam on April 21.

The disappearance and subsequent murder of the tourist, who had come to Kerala for Ayurveda treatment along with her sister, had triggered widespread controversy in the State with allegations that the Kerala police had not conducted a proper probe into the case.

PTI