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Assam migrant arrested for brutal Kerala rape, murder
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Police arrested a 23-year-old migrant labourer on Thursday in connection with the brutal rape and murder of a Dalit law student in Kerala, nearly
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Police arrested a 23-year-old migrant labourer on Thursday in connection with the brutal rape and murder of a Dalit law student in Kerala, nearly two months after the case shook the state and shaped the assembly polls.
Police sources said the accused —Amiyr-ul Islam—was arrested from a labour camp in Tamil Nadu. He reportedly fled to his native state of Assam soon after the crime in April but came back to join a labour camp in Kanchipuram, they added.
Police said the blood-stained chappals he abandoned near the house of the 29-year-old woman after the crime helped in cracking the case. Besides this, sources said, he bit her a couple of times while he stabbed her.
The police developed his DNA based on bloodstains left the on footwear and saliva found on the bite marks.
“We have arrested a person. The DNA test of the accused confirmed the samples taken from the body,” said additional director general of police, B Sandhya.
The law student was found in her one-room house on April 28 when her mother returned after work, with her intestines pulled out and at least 40 stab wounds on her body.
The case shook the state and renewed debate around caste and gender-based discrimination and the safety of women. The incident also brought back memories of the 2012 Delhi gang rape that triggered nationwide protests and inspired changes in India’s rape laws.
“No other family should undergo such a situation. He should be given death sentence,” said the mother who worked as a domestic help to bring up her second daughter.
T he case hurt the then Congress-led United Democratic Front government as the opposition – including Prime Minister Narendra Modi – repeatedly attacked the administration. The UDF lost the elections to the Left.
Sources said the prime motivation for the murder was an incident that occurred at least two weeks before the murder.
The accused was found loitering near a female-only bathing ghat and was beaten up by a group of women, including the victim.
Later he started stalking her and waited for an opportunity to attack her, sources said. The suspect was suffering from serious sexual disorders and brutally attacked the victim after she foiled his sexual advances, they added.
