The sister of murdered Latvian tourist beside the latter’s pyre at Santhikavadom crematorium

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The two young men arrested for the rape and murder of a Latvian tourist were addicted to wild sex, according to police. While Umesh, 28, the main accused, preferred sex with men, the second accused, Udayan, 24, had a fetish about white skinned foreign women.

The duo worked with a food catering unit at Manacaud in the city. When there were no catering assignments, they used to double up as illegal tourist guides. The arrests of Umesh and Udayan, both residents of Panathura, were recorded by the police on Thursday.

They have been charged under Sections 201 (destruction of evidence), 302 (murder), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison etc...), 342 (wrongful confinement), 366 (kidnapping), 376 (rape) of IPC and Section 20(b) of the NDPS Act.

"The spot where the woman's body was found was the usual 'playground' of Umesh," said an officer, who was part of the probe. He had brought in numerous men in the locality there for sex. He had 13 criminal cases in his name out of which six pertained to assault and one attempted murder.

"He was also in relationship with as many as six women in the neighbourhood," the officer said adding that many of his victims have given their statements against him.

Meanwhile, Udayan preferred to lure the foreign women he met while working as a guide with 'white beedi', a local ganja joint.

Interestingly, Udayan even thought about claiming the reward offered by police for anyone providing information about the woman's whereabouts. He hoped to use the amount to build a house. "He backed out from the idea due to the fear of being caught," the officer said.

There were many people in the neighbourhood who had seen the woman with the two accused. Though they remained silent initially, they opened up before police after her body was found.

Earlier in the day, state police chief Loknath Behera told media that the woman was drugged, raped and murdered. He said the accused met the Latvian woman when she reached Kovalam from Pothencode on March 14. The rape and subsequent death too happened on the same day. The accused allegedly lured her by offering drugs and took her to the mangrove forest. They raped her and when she resisted, they murdered her by strangulation, he said.

"The accused tried to make it look like a suicide. But our officers proved them wrong," Behera said, adding that the police have also collected significant scientific evidences against the accused.

IG (Thiruvananthapuram) Manoj Abraham said it was tough to find evidences as the woman's decomposed body was recovered more than 30 days after her death. "But we were able to collect some relevant evidences from the spot that helped us recreate the crime and identify the perpetrators," Abraham said.

The state police chief has also announced the badge of honour for detective excellence for all the officers involved in the investigation.

