PM Narendra Modi to meet Kerala rape victim's mother on May 11

With Assembly polls only 12 days away, the rape and murder of a Dalit woman has become the most talked about issue in Kerala.

New Delhi/Perumbavoor: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit the mother of the Dalit woman, who was raped and murdered in Perumbavoor, on May 11.

Social Justice Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot will also visit Kerala and meet the victim's family.

With Assembly polls only 12 days away, the case has become the most talked about issue in Kerala.

A poor Dalit woman whose brutal murder has shocked Kerala had 38 wounds on her body, her autopsy revealed, as police said on Wednesday their probe was on the right track.

The report by the Alappuzha Medical College also said that further tests will have to be done to confirm that Jisha, 30, was sexually abused before being murdered.

But almost everyone in the state appears to be convinced that this is a case of rape-cum-murder and it is being compared with the Nirbhya rape and killing of Delhi in 2012.

Jisha was found murdered on April 28 near a canal here by her labourer-mother. The body was badly mutilated. There were injuries on her private parts, according to police.

Even as the police questioned half-a-dozen suspects, the police released a profile picture of a suspect, based on information gathered from neighbours who saw a man around the victim's house that day.

On Wednesday morning, opposition leader and former chief minister VS Achuthanandan reached the hospital where Jisha's mother is admitted.

The first to reach the hospital on Wednesday was Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who was greeted by a hostile mob of Left student and youth activists shouting slogans against his government.

Meanwhile, a neighbour of the victim was on Tuesday night picked up from Kannur and questioned. Eight people are reportedly being questioned.

The CPI-M is saying that the police began taking interest in the case only after the media and the social media took it up -- because the victim was a poor woman.

(With Agency inputs)