THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The additional sessions court in Thiruvananthapuram will pronounce its judgment in the rape-murder case of a Latvian woman tourist on December 2. There are two accused in the case, and their trial has been completed.
The woman had reached Kerala with her sister for ayurveda treatment. She went missing on March 14, 2018, near Kovalam Beach. Her putrefied body with the head severed was recovered from a marshy land near Panathura a month later. The police arrested Umesh, 28, and Udayakumar, 24, in the case.
The prosecution argued that the two lured the woman by offering to take her to tourist destinations near Kovalam. They intended to have a physical relationship with her and gave her a ganja-filled beedi. She was then taken to a remote place where they physically abused her. When she regained consciousness, she tried to leave. The two then killed her, prosecution said.