Latvian woman's rape and murder case: Prime witness appears before court

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The prime witness in the Latvian woman rape and murder case appeared before the first additional sessions court here on Thursday.
Pradeep A S (39), a native of Santhipuram near Vandithavalam, did not turn up on Wednesday citing health issues. The court had issued a summons on Wednesday asking him to appear before the court in 24 hours.
In the court, the prosecution appreciated the witness for showing the courage to speak up truth despite threats and pressure from the people associated with the accused.
Police arrested a person last week for threatening Pradeep to turn hostile.
In the court, he was asked to recall the colour of the dress in the body and also the distance to the crime spot from his house. The chief and cross examination lasted for an hour. While cross examining, he was asked whether he got scared of seeing the body at the spot or not.
He demonstrated at the court how the body was lying in a creep at the mangrove.
The court will examine the third and fourth witness, Lalu and Sooraj, respectively, in the case on Friday.
The second witness, Ilze Skromane, was deposed before the court on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old Latvian national had travelled to Kerala for an ayurvedic treatment and went missing from here on March 14, 2018. Later, her decomposed body was recovered from a mangrove at Panathura on April 20, 2018.There are 104 witnesses, 112 documents and 81 material objects in the case.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)