Two days after a decapitated and decomposed body, identified as that of latvian woman liga Skromane (33) who had gone missing over a month ago, was found near Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram, the Kerala Police on Sunday intensified their probe into the circumstances of the death even as her sister, currently in Kerala, vowed not to leave India till the truth behind the case was revealed.
Sources in the police said that they were not ruling out the possibility of murder at this stage because of the peculiarities of the place where the body was found. They are also examining whether the drug mafia had any connection with the death of the latvian woman who had come to Kerala for Ayruveda treatment.
However, the police late Sunday evening indicated that they had not found any wounds or injuries on liga’s body or internal organs that could have led to death. They said death might have been caused by poisoning but a confirmation would come only after getting the postmortem report. Internal organs had been sent for chemical examination, they added.
“These are only early stages of investigation,” said a police official. “The area where the body was found is notorious for the presence of anti-social elements and it is normally impossible for a person unfamiliar with that area to reach there. No conclusion can be drawn at this stage,” he added.
The decapitated body was found in a decomposed condition at a small wooded area at Chenthilakkari, the famous tourism destination in Thiruvananthapuram, on Friday evening. The head was found nearby. According to the police, the state of the body showed that death might have occurred over a month ago.
Ilze Skromane and Andrew Jordan, respectively liga’s sister and live-in partner, identified the body as that of liga from the hair and the clothes found on it though they said the footwear and a jacket found at the spot were not hers. The police did not contradict their claim but said a confirmation from their part would come only after DNA analysis and other examinations. liga, who was suffering from severe depression, had come to Kerala on February 2 for Ayurveda treatment along with her sister Ilze. Though the treatment was for six weeks, she had gone missing on March 14.
After the police’s efforts to find liga failed to produce any result, Ilze and Andrew carried out searches for her on their own using posters printed with her picture and by contacting people at places where she might visit. They were in Kasaragod as part of their inquiries when they received news of the finding of the body near Kovalam on Friday.
Meanwhile, Ilze told a Kerala TV channel that she would meet Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to seek a high-level probe into the death of her sister and that she would not leave India till the truth behind it came to light. Ilze, who believed that this was not a case of suicide, said that she had no trust in the current police investigation.
Ilze agreed with the police theory that it was impossible for a foreign woman to reach the spot where the body was found on her own. Also, the area had nothing that would attract a foreign tourist, the police said. The body was first found by local people who had reached there for angling in the nearby river.
The current police investigation is based on the footwear and a jacket recovered from the spot which, according to Ilze and Andrew, did not belong to liga. Police officials said whether liga was a victim of sexual assault could be known only through scientific examinations and the postmortem, forensic and DNA analysis reports would be available by Monday.