Thiruvananthapuram: A full week after the horrific rape and murder of a 30-year-old law student, Jisha, police in Kerala are struggling to identify the culprit, politicians are locked in arguments on fixing responsibility, and the district collector of Ernakulam has appealed for an end to the stream of people visiting Jisha’s mother, Rajeswari with the intention of getting publicity.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reportedly planning a visit to the hospital where Rajeswari is recuperating from trauma over the ghastly killing of her younger daughter.

Jisha was murdered on April 28 at her one-room house located on the bank of an open drain, where she lived with her mother.

Autopsy revealed there were 38 injury marks on her body, including wounds on her neck, chest and private parts, and bite marks on her back. Her entrails had come out of her private parts.

Police have arrested over half a dozen people so far, but have not yet been able to get strong clues about the culprit. The opposition parties have pointed fingers at the police, finding fault with the speed at which the body was cremated. Reports that a postgraduate medical student conducted the post mortem has intensified the charges against authorities at every level in the investigation of the crime.

In an election campaign speech in Kannur on Thursday, Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPM) politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan asked, “Did the police take any action despite repeated complaints by the girl and her mother that they faced threats”?

He alleged that the police had tried to cover up the case, and wondered if the director general of police, T.P. Senkumar, was doing his duty.

Senkumar denied allegations that there was failure on the part of the police, stating that media reports were unfounded.

The police faced more embarrassment when the CPM mouthpiece, Deshabhimani, reported that the police had played a drama by arresting two persons on Tuesday who were allegedly policemen in plainclothes from one of the police stations in Ernakulam district.

Meanwhile, district collector M.G. Rajamanickam suggested on social media that people refrain from visiting the victim’s mother with the intention of garnering publicity, and instead contribute money to the family.

“For the past three days, I was with the family of Jisha and what I noticed was, one group of people who came to see the mother of the victim were with either a photographer or a videographer for publicity. The other group of people were talking, arguing, making hue and cry on social media. And some others were mere spectators. After 10 days, this energy will go and the family will be left with nothing,” he said.

He appealed to people to contribute money to the family through the joint account of the District Collector, Ernakulam and K.K. Rajeswari opened in the State Bank of India, Perumbavur.