Thiruvananthapuram: Eight days after the horrific rape and murder of a 30-year-old law student, Jisha, at Perumbavoor in Kerala, police have taken into custody half a dozen people but are yet to identify the culprit.
On Friday, two bus drivers were held by police, raising hopes that the police may be closing in on the person who murdered Jisha, who was murdered in her one-room home in a brutal fashion. One of the two men held on Friday is reportedly her neighbour.
Additional director general of police, Padmakumar, said there is progress in the investigation and that based on current estimates, there may be only one culprit. He added the crime appeared to have been pre-meditated.
Police are probing statements by two neighbours who said they had seen a man wearing a yellow shirt cross the canal adjesant to Jisha’s house on the day of her death.
In a related development, the Kerala High Court refused to intervene in the case, after a public interest litigation seeking the court’s intervention was filed.
The state government submitted before the court that the investigation was proceeding in the right direction and that it was willing to produce before the court the details of the investigation before noon on Friday.
In Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University a protest was held to draw attention to the rape and murder of Jisha, who was from the Dalit community.
The hospital where Jisha’s mother, Rajeswari, is being treated introduced curbs for visitors. Jisha’s father, K.V. Pappu, who has been estranged from the family for over a decade has also been admitted to hospital. He has been refusing to eat ever since hearing of her murder.
On Friday, Communist Party of India Marxist politburo member, Pinarayi Vijayan visited Rajeswari at the hospital. Prime minister Narendra Modi is also expected to call on her during his election campaign for the National Democratic Alliance in Kerala.
