Suresh Gopi in touch with US Consul General to bring home bodies of two Kerala women

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 31 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Tourism Suresh Gopi is in regular touch with the Consul General of India in the US to ensure that the bodies of the two Kerala women killed in Milpitas, California, are brought back to their respective homes.

“I am in regular touch with the Consul General there. I have been told that the bodies of both the women will be handed over after the autopsy is completed. They are expecting it to happen by Tuesday. After that, the bodies will be handed over to registered funeral homes there. By then, the families will have to inform the authorities which destination the bodies are to be taken to,” Gopi told IANS.

“It is midnight now in California, so more information will be received by tonight (our time). I am keeping track of everything,” he said.

Both Gopi and Chief Minister V.D.Satheesan have spoken to the relatives here of the two deceased’s.

Thrissur native Anjana (35) and her friend Ann Mary Mathew (40), a native of Kesavadasapuram in Thiruvananthapuram, were killed in Milpitas on August 28.

Anjana, a native of Peechi, was reportedly run over by a blue SUV in the parking area of the Mill Creek apartment complex, while Ann Mary was found stabbed to death inside an apartment.

Anila (32), a native of Moonnilavu in Kottayam and a friend of the two women, has been taken into custody by Milpitas police in connection with the killings.

The motive for the killings, however, has not yet been established.

The three women were reportedly close friends and lived in the same apartment complex with their families.

The incident has shocked the Malayali community in the US, particularly as the families had celebrated Onam together and had gone to a theatre to watch a movie just a day before the killings. Anjana’s husband Vijeesh is a software engineer, and the couple has a six-year-old daughter.

Anjana was working as a school teacher in California.

Ann Mary, who worked as a computer teacher at a school in the US, was the wife of Jacob, a native of Chingavanam. The couple has two daughters.

According to Milpitas police, Anjana was killed in the parking area of the Mill Creek apartment complex.

The blue SUV allegedly involved in the incident was later found abandoned with damage to its front end in a nearby parking area.

Police subsequently took Anila into custody.

The families are in contact with the US authorities as the investigation and legal formalities continue.

The immediate priority is now the completion of the autopsy and arrangements for the repatriation of the bodies to Kerala.

–IANS

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