It has been 18 days since Ilze Skromane’s 33-year-old sister Liga Skromane went missing in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram district, but Ilze is hopeful that the state police will be able to trace her sister.
Latvian national Liga, who lives in Ireland, had come to Kerala with her younger sister Ilze on February 2. She was undergoing ayurvedic treatment at a centre in Pothencode. Liga, who her family says was undergoing therapy for post-traumatic depression, walked out of the treatment centre on the morning of March 14. She was last seen at Kovalam beach.
Ilze told TNM that although the police have been looking for Liga, there have been no leads in the case.
"We have laid our trust upon the police and they are assuring us that they are doing all in their power to find my sister," Ilze says.
Meanwhile, the state government has reportedly sought the help of the Navy and the Air Force to carry out an underwater search in Kovalam.
On Sunday, according to the Times of India, an aircraft will fly from Sulur Air Force Station to Kochi and move naval assets to Trivandrum. ”Southern Naval command will mobilise Gemini inflatable boats, under-water sonar and 5 deep sea divers for the search," the Times of India said.
Earlier last week, Ilze filed a habeas corpus petition with the Kerala High Court. Admitting the petition, the HC asked the union government and the state government to file a report on the matter.
The police said that they have already expanded their search to other districts and that despite getting information that Liga had been spotted in Alappuzha and a few other places, the police could not find her.
While the state police continue to search for Liga, her family has also launched a frantic search for her.
Ilze is now joined by Liga's husband Andrew Jordan in their search. Ilze and Andrew have declared Rs 1 lakh as a reward, and have been putting up look-out posters in and around the city.
"We printed 4000 flyers to bring to local villages to pass them around. Every day we are covering different areas," Ilze said.
Ilze and Liga were staying at Dharma Ayurvedic and Healing Centre in Pothencode in Thiruvananthapuram since February 21.
Ilze had earlier told TNM that on the day she went missing, Liga had refused to join her for a yoga session at the centre, saying that she had a headache.
"We came here for a 6-week treatment. Liga is suffering from post-traumatic depression and just when she was showing signs of improvement, this happened. That morning, instead of getting ready for the yoga session at 6.30 am, she went back to bed. She told me that she had a headache and that she wanted to lie down. When I came back by 7.30 am, she had disappeared," Ilze had said.