Thiruvananthapuram: Police on Thursday recorded the arrest of two accused in connection with the murder of a Latvian woman.

The arrest of Umesh and Udayan have been recorded. Murder and rape charges have been slapped on the duo. The police had found that the foreign woman was raped before being murdered.

DGP Loknath Behera congratulated the team led by IG Manoj Abraham who probed the case. Behera said that the department would award a Badge of Honour to the team.

Investigating officer, Manoj Abraham said the accused have been charged under IPC sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape) and 20(b) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS Act.

The foreign woman went missing since March 14 from Dharma Ayurveda resort in Pothencode. Later she was found in the grove beach in Kovalam on the same day. She reached there in an auto rickshaw and later went to the premises of Panathura temple. Udayan and Umesh met her from there. They offered ganja to her and also promised to show the sights in the place.

They took her in a fiber boat to the mangroves at Vazhamuttam, from where they used drugs. The murder was committed after 5.30 pm, say police.

Police confirmed that the woman was raped before murder and the confirmation by police comes after the forensic and chemical examination reports were received. It was found that Udayan’s jacket was found on the body of the woman. And also the hair strands found from the mangroves was identified to be of the culprits.