An Irish man whose Latvian wife went missing at Kovalam in Kerala has alleged that the Indian police held him in the hospital for six days against his will, according to Irish media reports.
Andrew Jordan went back to Ireland recently after spending two and a half weeks searching for Liga Skromane, who was last seen on the beach at Kovalam on March 14. After going back, he told the Irish media that “the police just assumed Liga was just another holidaymaker gone awry. It took us two weeks to get them to look for her.”
However, the government said that it has been making efforts to find the woman, who came to Kovalam with her sister, Ilze, for a relaxing trip. Skromane was diagnosed with post-traumatic depression last year and traveled to India with Ilze for Ayurvedic treatment on Feb. 3.
“The government has been in talks with defense regarding the missing Latvian woman. The plan is to use all possible options to carry out the search,” a defense spokesperson said, the Times of India reported on April 1. The state government also sought help from the Indian Navy and Air Force for search in the area.
Ilze said that she won’t leave until her sister is found. Meanwhile, Jordan was taken to Medical College Hospital (MCH) by locals on March 30 for allegedly trying to vandalize property in an inebriated state at around 2 am. He was said to be hallucinated.
“He alleged that the particular resort had detained and hid his wife. He wanted to search it and on being denied he turned violent,” hospital sources said, according to the Deccan Chronicle. The police told the publication that he had vandalized the resort and was detained and roughed up by local people who later sent him to hospital. Vizhinjam police registered a case against him for the alleged ruckus.
“After becoming sober, he did not continue in that state of hallucination. Liquor could have the effect of a depressant,” the hospital officials added.
After returning to Dublin, he told Irish Mirror on April 9 that the police weren’t investigating any of the leads that he gave them. “I don’t want this to be a criticism of the Indian police, but I do think that they failed miserably in the early stages,” he said.
Liga has not been found yet.