ALAPPUZHA: The investigation team said that the murder of Malayali medical student Sawariya Basant (21) in Uzbekistan was committed in the apartment of the accused, his classmate Sadarul Anam, a native of Malappuram. This came to light during the investigation by the Haripad police.
Sawariya and Sadarul Anam were first-year students at Bukhara State Medical University. It is not confirmed whether their apartments were adjacent. Police believe that Sawariya was taken to the accused's apartment hours before she was killed, and that she was forcibly kept there and tortured. The postmortem report states that the woman's bruises from head to toe occurred within 24 hours before death. The report confirmed that the cause of death was a blow to the head with a heavy object.
The police will record the statements of Sawariya's classmates who have returned home for vacation. Further action will be taken after examining the chemical test results of the woman's internal organs.
Meanwhile, the state crime branch started a preliminary investigation into the incident on the instructions of Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala. Statements were taken from Sawariya's father Basant and his relative Janeesh, who came to Uzbekistan to receive the body. Sawariya was killed on March 3.