Jisha murder: Missing neighbour in custody

Kochi: As protests escalated across the state over the government’s laxity in handling the brutal rape and murder of law student Jisha at Perumbavoor near Kochi, the police, on Tuesday, took into custody the missing neighbour in connection with the case.

Ernakulam range IG Mahipal Yadav said that probe team strongly suspects that the girl was killed by a single person. The neighbour of the 27-year-old girl, who went missing since the incident happened on April 28, was arrested from Kannur.

Some locals had given a statement that they had seen a person leaving Jisha’s home.

The police, however, haven’t confirmed the role of the neighbour in the crime. He will be questioned properly on Wednesday.

Earlier, the probing team had taken two persons into custody in connection with the murder. One is dance master of the victim and the other a person who had worked with her at a private hospital. They were later let off.

Jisha was raped and killed when she was alone in her single-room home. The neighbourhood came to know about the murder when her mother, serving as a domestic help, returned home after day's work. Her father had abandoned the family when she was a child. Her only sister, a divorcee, is living with her maternal grandmother in a nearby village.

As per reports, the victim's genital was mutilated by inserting sharp iron rod like object which had broken her backbone. Her nose was smashed off. Her abdomen was slit open and there were deep stab wounds on her breasts. Her neck bore 13 injuries. In all, there were about 30 injuries on her body.