The Latvian tourist whose body was found at Thiruvallom near Thiruvananthapuram could have been murdered, the police said on Friday.
P. Prakash, city police commissioner, said Liga Skromane might have been strangulated to death. The officer cited the preliminary findings of police surgeons while making the observations.
"The postmortem report will be available tomorrow (Saturday)," he said.
He said several people were being interrogated in connection with the case.
There were reports that local drug peddlers were behind the woman's death.
A boatman, Ranganathan, said that drug peddlers and addicts frequented the spot in the guise of anglers. Some of them had come even the day before the body was found. These people may have possibly gone underground, he said.
The probe team also traced the paths believed to have been taken by the woman.
Four people are already in custody for the mysterious death of the overseas visitor. They were arrested after questioning several people in the locality. Two women have reportedly told the police that they had seen Liga going into the mangrove forest all alone.
Meanwhile, the police have stumbled upon a canoe allegedly used by Liga. It is suspected that the woman may have used this canoe to reach the isolated spot in the mangrove forest where her body was found later.
Liga was a medical tourist suffering from chronic depression. She was taking yoga lessons and undergoing ayurvedic treatment at a medical facility at Pothencode.
Liga disappeared on March 14 when her sister, Ilze Skromane, had stepped out for shopping. Her sister and partner had been on a frantic search for several weeks before her highly decomposed body was found by some local residents.
The initial police reports pointed towards suicide, though foul play was not ruled out.
DNA tests confirmed that the body indeed belonged to Liga. The detailed chemical test results of the internal organs, being conducted by three different labs, is expected to be available soon.
Liga's sister, Ilze, was given government compensation of Rs 5 lakh by Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Thursday.
This article was originally published in Onmanorama on April 27, 2018