Perumbavoor (Kerala) : A poor Dalit woman whose brutal murder has shocked Kerala had 38 wounds on her body, her autopsy revealed, as police said on Wednesday their probe was on the right track.
The report by the Alappuzha Medical College also said that further tests will have to be done to confirm that Jisha, 27, was sexually abused before being murdered.
But almost everyone in the state appears to be convinced that this is a case of rape-cum-murder and it is being compared with the Nirbhya rape and killing of Delhi in 2012.
Jisha was found murdered on April 28 near a canal here by her labourer-mother. The body was badly mutilated. There were injuries on her private parts, according to police.
Even as the police questioned half-a-dozen suspects, the police released a profile picture of a suspect, based on information gathered from neighbours who saw a man around the victim’s house that day.
“We are unable to give details of what we are doing and what’s happening on the probe but can say it’s going on the right track,” Additional Director General of Police K. Padmakumar told reporters.
On Wednesday morning, opposition leader and former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan reached the hospital where Jisha’s mother is admitted.
“It is going to be a week now and no one has been arrested. A new team should be appointed to take forward the probe,” he said.
The first to reach the hospital on Wednesday was Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who was greeted by a hostile mob of Left student and youth activists shouting slogans against his government.
Youth Congress activists were present in equal numbers, giving the chief minister close company.
Chandy assured Jisha’s mother that the killer would be arrested and promised a government job to her other daughter. “Police are doing their job and very soon the accused will be booked.”
As the media posed questions to Chandy, a scuffle broke out between the Youth Congress activists and the journalists.
Meanwhile, a neighbour of the victim was on Tuesday night picked up from Kannur and questioned. Eight people are reportedly being questioned.
With assembly polls only 12 days away, the case has become the most talked about issue in Kerala.
The CPI-M is saying that the police began taking interest in the case only after the media and the social media took it up — because the victim was a poor woman.
Meanwhile, the Kerala government has sanctioned compensation of Rs.10 lakh to Jisha’s mother, Chandy told reporters.
Chandy’s office also said that as a special case in 2014-15, the government gave Rs.3.75 lakh to Jisha’s family to buy a piece of land to build a home.
“Further, we gave them Rs.1.2 lakh in two instalments to take forward the construction. We are also committed to give another Rs.1.65 lakh in two instalments as the construction progresses,” said the statement.