The crime has been billed 'Kerala's Nirbhaya' for its unnerving similarities to the gang-rape in 2012 of a young Delhi student on a moving bus.
Highlights
- Dalit law student found dead in home with intestines pulled out
- Police cordon off crime scene only today, 6 days after killing
- No arrests yet, forensic evidence also collected today
Six days after a
law student was found dead in her home in Kerala, her intestines hanging out, the police finally cordoned off the house as a crime scene - one of many signs of laxity in how the barbaric crime has been handled.
Kerala is in the midst of its election. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said he has asked his party to ensure the culprits are punished.
Nobody has been arrested yet, though the police says three people were detained today for questioning in the victim's hometown of Perumbavoor, around 200 km from the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram. Forensic evidence was also collected today by experts.
The
National Human Rights Commission has now issued a notice to the state government over the gruesome murder. "The crime is so spine-chilling and gruesome that words fall short and expressing anguish and shock appear meaningless and mere ritualistic," the Commission said in a statement.
The 30-year-old student's mother discovered her dead in a pool of blood and was hospitalized owing to her own trauma. Till this morning, the police was fighting allegations that the student had been raped before being smothered, strangled, and hit hard on the head.
"The suspect attacked and murdered her brutally and fled the scene quickly," said police inspector general Mahipal Yadav, who is heading the investigation into the case. "There are indications that her intestines came out after severe violation by some foreign object," he said.
Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala told NDTV that the police has registered a case of rape and murder. "Police are working very hard on this case, we will bring all the culprits to book within no time. There will be no laxity," he said.
Friends of the law student say that the police tried to "cover up" the crime to prevent an embarrassment for the government as it asks for another term. They also said that till today, no politician or local activist had shown any interest in the case.
Protesters staged a demonstration in state capital Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday, many covering their mouths with black handkerchiefs and carrying placards demanding justice for the victim.
The attack has drawn comparisons with the fatal gang-rape of a student on a moving bus in Delhi in 2012, which forced a national debate on women's safety and new laws to punish sexual crimes.