Family ‘frantically’ hunts for Irish woman missing for 9 days in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Liga Skromane, a 33-year-old Latvian national, a resident of Ireland, has been missing from Kerala's Kovalam since March 14, 2018. Her husband Andrew Jordan (42) has been searching for Liga.  

"We reached out to the police and were assured that they will get her in two days. It's been nine days now," said Andrew, who had arrived in Kerala last Saturday.

With over a week into her disappearance, the police and Liga's family have no clue about her whereabouts.

Liga's sister, Ilze Skormane alleged that it took at least five days for the police to act.

Ilze along with Liga's husband, Andrew, have decided to intensify the search in areas of Kovalam and Vizhinjam.

Liga, a well-travelled woman with Latvian passport had arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on February 21 for Ayurvedic treatment of post-traumatic depression.

According to reports, she went to a beach in Kovalam, about 40 km from the state capital, on March 14, without informing her sister, who was accompanying her on India trip. There has been no trace of her since then.

Andrew and Ilze have been frantically wandering around the streets of the state capital for over 5 days now.

Andrew, holding a poster of his wife's photo is offering a reward of Rs 1 lakh for anyone who gives information about Liga or help find her.

"I was told yesterday by the police that my wife was last spotted by locals on March 18. I checked with locals and they could even identify her by her clothes. The description matched. We need help to locate her," Andrew was reported as saying.

"She is well-travelled and an intelligent woman. She knows what needs to be done if she has lost direction," he stressed.

Andrew suspects that his wife has been kidnapped.

"The police, I think, initially kept thinking that she will return by herself and that she must have gone away for a while. We suspect something else. We believe she must have been taken away by a group that is not letting her off.  We need help in locating her. We came to Kerala for her to be cured, because doctors in our country couldn't find any answers to her illness," Liga's sister, Ilze Skromane told NDTV.

"We just need to find her," she added.

Ilze has been using social media for spreading the word. She also tweeted External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday for help.

According to reports, Liga went missing from the treatment center in Pothencode on March 14. Based on the inputs from the rickshaw drivers, it was learnt that she took a ride towards Kovalam beach.

Some local vendors on the beach also confirmed that they saw her at the beach in the afternoon. But, since then there hasn't been any trace about Liga, says Ilze.

According to police sources, a body of a foreign national has been recovered but a DNA test will be required to confirm the identity. But refuting the suspicion, Ilze says, "My sister never had a tattoo, this body has a tattoo in the arm. Also, my sister's and my feet size are almost the same, but the feet of the body which has been recovered are much larger. We need all possible help to find Liga."