Kerala court sentences two youths to double life term in 2018 Latvian woman murder case

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 6 (IANS) A lower court in the state capital city on Tuesday sentenced two youths to double life imprisonment for murdering a Latvian woman who had arrived here in April 2018 as a tourist.

The court had declared the two convicts -- Umesh and Udayan as guilty last week and posted the case for delivering the quantum of punishment.

Apart from handing out a double life sentence to the convicts, the court ordered the two to pay a fine of Rs 1.65 lakh, which should be handed over to the sister of the victim.

The two convicts requested the court to conduct a lie-detector test on them.

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.

IIzie hearing the verdict expressed her thanks to all the people who helped her to solve the crime. and the Kerala Police also appreciated the work of the entire team for doing a commendable job in getting to the bottom of the truth.