Forensic experts reportedly told State police investigators on Tuesday that they suspect that Latvian national Liga Skromane died strangulated.
Her sister, Illze Skormane, and Andrew Jorden, her friend, had filed a missing person complaint on March 14. She was undergoing Ayurveda therapy, including yoga sessions, at an ashram in Pothencode.
According to them, Liga, suffering from depressive illness, had left in an autorickshaw for Kovalam and never returned. On April 22, the police discovered a body near Vazhamuttom at Thiruvallam, a swampy locality bordering the backwaters. According to them, the corpse was in a highly decomposed state. Liga’s sister tentatively identified it as her sister’s.
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Assistant Commissioner, Fort, J. K. Dinil, said he was awaiting the detailed post-mortem examination report. Another officer said the police have not ruled out a murder inquiry. Forensic doctors have told him that it was difficult to interpret antemortem injuries in a decomposed body. However, there could be clues despite the difficulties in identifying the cause of death, in putrified and mutilated bodies.
The police were now focussing on marijuana peddlers at Thiruvallam to crack the case. An investigator said the mafia, which caters to foreign tourists, had hardened and exploitative criminals among them.
Responding to allegations raised by the family of Liga, the Kerala Police have appealed to the people to refrain from propagating misleading claims. In a statement, the police said all possible steps were being taken to investigate the circumstances that led to the death.
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The investigating team had recorded the statement of autorickshaw driver Shaji, aka Santhosh, who had transported Liga from the Ayurveda therapy centre near Pothencode to the Kovalam beach. The driver had been identified after examining CCTV visuals. He has reportedly identified the body as that of Liga’s. While he identified her clothes, he claimed that she had not worn the jacket that had been recovered from the spot.
Meanwhile, the State Human Rights Commission has directed the State Police Chief to probe if there had been a laxity in the case investigation.