‘Missing’ photo stops Latvian woman murder trial for an hour

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The trial in the 2018 Latvian woman murder case at the Additional Sessions Court-I in Thiruvananthapuram faced an unexpected one-hour stoppage after one of the 21 photographs of the corpse and the crime spot was found missing. The photographs were collected by the police during the preliminary stage of the probe.The judge then stopped the court proceedings and instructed the staff, and also the lawyers, to find the photograph.

After 45 minutes of intense search, the staff found it inside the case files in the courtroom. The court then resumed the trial.The dramatic scenes unfolded when judge B V Balakrishnan asked the prosecution to furnish the photographs while hearing the then Thiruvallam CI Sivakumar, who investigated the case, for identifying the corpse and the crime spot.

Normally, the court accepts the photographs as evidence after the witnesses identify them. Though the prosecution submitted the photographs, one of them was found missing.At that time, there were around 20 people inside the court, including the defence lawyers, special prosecutor and police officers. The judge then instructed the court staff to find the missing photograph. He also asked the lawyers and others to help in the search.

Later, the staff found the photograph in the case files on the clerk’s table in the courtroom. Currently, the third phase of the trial in the case pertaining to the alleged rape and murder of the Latvian tourist is underway at the  Additional Sessions Court-I.The prosecution case is that on March 14, 2018, the accused persons – Udayan and Umesh – allegedly raped and murdered the woman after giving intoxicants near the Kovalam beach.