Kerala court allows foreigner to witness trial online

Thiruvananthapuram: A trial court in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala's capital, allowed a Latvian woman to watch online the trial of the accused who murdered her sister here, in a first.

Ilzie, the woman who requested to watch the trial related to the famed April 2018 murder in Kovalam beach, got her visa expired and approached the Kerala High Court through Latvian Embassy for the same.

She had waited for months to witness the trial, which got delayed and has now reached the final leg, IANS reported.

The Thiruvananthapuram First Class Judicial Magistrate court gave a positive response to her request, agreeing to make arrangements for her to watch the court proceedings online from her home.

Ilzie had arrived in Thiruvanthapuram, along with her sister and her sister's partner Andrew. They came for ayurvedic treatment at a facility in Thiruvananthapuram's outskirts. On March 2018, the sister went missing.

The victim was last seen taking an auto-rickshaw to Kovalam. She didn't have her passport or mobile phone with her then.

Police launched a search immediately, but the victim's body, heavily decomposed, was found only on April 20 in a marshy region. The autopsy suggested that the victim was strangulated.

A probe into the matter resulted in the arrest of two local youths, Umesh and Udayan. They were relatives and were operational as tourist guides, and had criminal backgrounds. Police had charged sexual assault and murder on the duo.

The trial is expected to be over soon.