The police in Kerala suspect that the decayed, decapitated body found near a forest in Kovalam on Friday is of a Latvian tourist, who has been missing for more than a month. The woman’s sister and husband recognised the clothes on the corpse but said the jacket and slippers were not hers, PTI reported.
Liga Skromene, 33, was in India to get Ayurvedic treatment for depression but went missing from Kovalam on March 14. The police had formed a special investigation team to find her and also announced a Rs 2-lakh reward for anyone with information about her.
A group of anglers informed the police after they found the woman’s body in a bushy area on the banks of the Karmana river on Friday. The woman’s head was found a few metres away from the body.
The police will soon send DNA samples for forensic tests, Thiruvananthapuram Police Commissioner P Prakash said.
“The woman’s body, with the head severed, ankles and toes detached, was recovered yesterday [Friday],” an unidentified police officer told PTI on Saturday. “We are investigating all angles, including murder, to find the truth.”
Skromene’s husband and sister were pasting her photographs in public places in northern Kerala when they heard the news. They travelled to Thiruvananthapuram to identify the body. Her sister Ilze said she was not satisfied with the police investigation so far.
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