Thiruvananthapuram: Andrew Jordan, the Irish partner of Liga Skromane, the Latvian tourist killed in Kovalam, will demand a CBI probe. The state police had recently arrested two men named Udayan, 24, and Umesh, 28, for the alleged rape and murder. Mr Jordan alleged, 'the authorities were hell-bent on closing this case, even if that meant convicting the wrong people.' The victim's sister had started crowdfunding using the platform GoFundMe and raised Indian money worth nearly Rs 4.6 lakh.
Informing the contributors, Mr Jordan said that this money would be used to approach High Court to hand over the case to the central agency. The murdered woman was in the capital for treating depression and was allegedly lured by the duo offering drugs. Police had said that the suspects had taken turns to rape her before strangling. Mr Jordan said that the negligence and obstruction of justice in his partner's case is far from isolated.
"It is clear to anyone who scratches the surface that the deplorable strategy of the authorities to pass off these murders as suicides or accidents, in an attempt to protect the tourist dollar, is systematic and commonly deployed," he said in a social media post. "We will do everything in our power to bring this kind of behaviour in public awareness." Police had on May 17 returned the suspects to judicial custody after gathering evidence. They had fished out the undergarments and few cigarette joints from the marsh near the spot where the body lied. Mr Jordan used to visit the spots of the police probe in each phase of inquiry.
