Kerala woman was raped and murdered in her home in Ernakulam on Thursday.
Highlights
- 30-year-old found dead in her home in Ernakulam, had marks of strangling
- She lived with her mother, who is mentally unstable; father had left them
- Cops say she was assaulted between 1-5 pm on Thursday, no arrests yet
A 30-year-old law student in Kerala was raped and murdered and her body was found with the intestines hanging out in an incident that has chilling echoes of the 2012 gangrape of Delhi student Jyoti Singh, who came to be known as Nirbhaya.
The woman was found dead inside her home in Ernakulam on Thursday with signs of strangling and 30 wounds on her body. She is believed to have been brutalized with a sharp instrument and also had a head injury.
She was last seen by neighbours in the afternoon when she had gone to fill water near her house. The police suspect she was assaulted between 1 and 5 pm.
The neighbours say they didn't hear anything.
The woman lived with her mother, who, the police say, is mentally unstable and has been admitted to a hospital. Her father had left them years ago and the family was struggling financially.
No arrests have been made in the past four days. Ahead of voting for assembly polls in the state, the case has drawn political attention.
Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala told reporters that investigations are on and those responsible would be dealt with severely.
"The incident is terrifying and a reminder of how such things are on the rise in Kerala and other states," said TN Seema, a Left candidate for the May 16 polls.
In December 2012, 23-year-old medical student Jyoti Singh was gang-raped on a moving bus by five men who tortured her with an iron rod. She died 13 days later amid angry protests in India. The outrage led to new laws on crimes against women.