Dalit woman brutally raped, murdered in Kerala; Opp attacks govt

Kochi, May 2: A 30-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped and brutally murdered at her residence in Perumbavoor near here, following which CPI-M attacked state government for 'inaction' in the case.

The CPI-M has latched onto the murder which occurred on April 28 to accuse the Congress-led UDF government in the poll-bound Kerala of 'inaction' to trace the culprits.
"Police have failed to get any lead about the culprits even five days after the incident," CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said in Thiruvananthapuram.

Rejecting the charge, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said a "scientific" probe was being conducted into the incident and asserted that the culprits would be brought to book.

Police said Ernakulam Range IG Mahipal Yadav is supervising the probe by a team of officials, headed by Perumbavoor Dy SP after it was reported that 30-year-old Jisha was subjected to rape and fatal assault at her small wayside home in Kuruppampadi police limit.

Jisha was found dead in a pool of blood at 8 PM by her mother when she reached home after her daily menial job.

"It was a brutal murder. There were stab injuries on her body. We suspect she was subjected to smothering and strangulation," Yadav told PTI.

He, however, refused to share details about the investigation. Police said whether the woman was subjected to sexual assault before or after the murder would be clear only from the postmortem report.

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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