Two arrested for tourist’s rape and murder in Kerala

The Kerala police have arrested two men, Umesh and Udayan, for the rape and murder of a Latvian tourist.Liga Skromane, 33, went missing from Kovalam on March 14, while under treatment for depression at an Ayurveda wellness centre.Two anglers spotted her decomposed body on April 19 in mangroves nearby with the head detached. The police, who initially suspected it to be a case of suicide, later confirmed that Liga was murdered by drug pushers on the same day she was reported missing.She had been raped, state police chief Loknath Behera told a news conference here yesterday.The men lured the ‘depressed and vulnerable’ woman, as her sister Ilse Skromane described her, into mangroves in a boat after offering some narcotic or psychotropic stuff.“Then they gave her the substance and started sexually assaulting her. When she resisted, they killed her,” the police chief said.“The body was disposed in a manner to make people believe Liga had committed suicide. It’s premature to rule out the involvement of more people in the crime,” he added.The two sisters, hailing from Dublin, had arrived in the state on February 3 and had visited the Mata Amritanandamayi ashram. Liga had decided to try yoga, meditation and Ayurveda for post-traumatic depression after receiving medical help in Ireland and Latvia.Though they intended to stay at the Amritapuri ashram till February 21, Liga suffered from insomnia due to depression. They then left for Varkala, another seaside town, where they stayed until the start of the six-week Ayurveda programme at Pothencode on February 21.On that fateful day, Liga remained in her room alone skipping the morning yoga at 6.30am stating she had a headache. She later left for Kovalam, 31km away in a rickshaw.She told the rickshaw driver she wanted to be at a beach and he took her there. When Ilse returned to the room at 7.45am, she found her sister missing.Ilze then traced the driver who had left Liga at the beach. They reached the spot at 11.30am and began searching for her. Later she went to the Kovalam police station to register a case but was directed to the Pothencode police station. Ilze caught the media’s attention after she began wandering the streets with posters of her missing sister. By this time, Liga’s partner, Andrew Jordan, had arrived on an emergency visa and joined in the search.