Kerala court finds two youths guilty in 2018 Latvian woman murder case

A lower court in the state capital city on Friday found two youths in the famed beach destination Kovalam guilty of murdering a Latvian woman who had arrived here in April 2018 as a tourist.

Thiruvananthapuram: A lower court in the state capital city on Friday found two youths in the famed beach destination Kovalam guilty of murdering a Latvian woman who had arrived here in April 2018 as a tourist.

The court posted the case for Monday when the quantum of punishment to the two convicts — Umesh and Udayan — would be pronounced.

The victim, her partner Andrew and sister Ilzie had arrived in Kerala for ayurvedic treatment at a facility in Thiruvananthapuram’s outskirts when she went missing on March 14, 2018.

She was last seen hiring an auto-rickshaw to Kovalam. She was not carrying her passport or mobile phone with her when she went missing.

Even though the police launched a manhunt, it was on April 20, 2018 that the victim’s highly decomposed body was found in a marshy area near the famed Kovalam tourist destination. An autopsy pointed to strangulation.

Following the subsequent probe, the police arrested two local youths, Umesh and Udayan, who are relatives and were functioning as unregistered guides. Both did not have a clean track record.

Incidentally, following a request from the victim’s sister, IIzie, the court allowed her to watch the trial online as her visit visa had expired and she could not travel to India.