Dalit woman raped, murdered in Kerala; Opposition attacks UDF govt

The CPI-M has latched onto the murder which occurred on April 28 to accuse the Congress-led UDF government in the poll-bound Kerala of inaction to trace the culprits.

"Police have failed to get any lead about the culprits even five days after the incident," CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said in Thiruvananthapuram.

Rejecting the charge, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said a 'scientific' probe was being conducted into the incident and asserted that the culprits would be brought to book.

Police said Ernakulam Range IG Mahipal Yadav is supervising the probe by a team of officials, headed by Perumbavoor Dy SP after it was reported that 30-year-old Jisha was subjected to rape and fatal assault at her small wayside home in Kuruppampadi police limit.

Jisha was found dead in a pool of blood at 8 PM by her mother when she reached home after her daily menial job.

"It was a brutal murder. There were stab injuries on her body. We suspect she was subjected to smothering and strangulation," Yadav told PTI.

He, however, refused to share details about the investigation.

Police said whether the woman was subjected to sexual assault before or after the murder would be clear only from the postmortem report.