Kerala rape and murder accused remanded to judicial custody till July 13

Kochi: A migrant labourer, arrested for allegedly murdering a 30-year-old Dalit woman at Perumbavoor in Kerala's Ernakulam district, was remanded to judicial custody till July 13 by a court here on Thursday.

The woman, who hailed from a poor family, was raped and brutally assaulted using sharp-edged weapons before being murdered at her house on April 28.

Perumbavoor Judicial First Class Magistrate sent 23-year old Ameerul Islam to judicial custody when he was produced by police at the end of his 10-days police custody.

The court had on June 21 granted police custody of the accused allowing a plea by the police a day after a test identification parade of the migrant labourer was held in the presence of a magistrate at Kakkanad sub-jail.

A crowd gathered at the court today to see the accused was brought this evening by police without covering his face.

Later, he was taken to and lodged in Kakkanad sub jail. Police had yesterday taken Ameerul to Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu for collecting evidence from the lodge where he was said to have stayed prior to his arrest on June 16.

The accused, hailing from Assam, was arrested on the charge of killing the law student, 50 days after the gruesome incident that had become a major issue in the Kerala Assembly elections last month.