Two days after a 27-year-old woman from Telangana was stabbed to death in the United Kingdom, a man has been charged with the murder and the attempted murder of her friend at a residential address in Wembley. The Metropolitan Police said 23-year-old Keven Antonio Lourenco De Morais, previously referred to as a Brazilian national, has been remanded in police custody to appear at Uxbridge Magistrates Court in London.
The deceased has been identified as Kontham Tejashwi, a native of Hayathnagar area of Hyderabad. Two other people, one man and a woman, arrested in connection with the murder investigation at the crime scene have now been released with no further action.
What are the charges against accused?
"Keven Antonio Lourenco De Morais was charged on Thursday, 15 June with the murder of Tejaswini Kontham and the attempted murder of a second woman,” the Met Police said in a statement. On Tuesday, Met Police officers visited a flat in Neeld Crescent, Wembley, along with the London Ambulance Service and found Tejaswini and another woman, aged 28, suffering from knife injuries.
"Despite the efforts of emergency services, Tejaswini sadly died at the scene. Her family has been informed,” the police said. It led to a man-hunt for prime murder suspect De Morais, who was later arrested in the Harrow area of north London.
The second victim of the knife attack has been named locally as Akhila, also from India who remains in hospital but is said to be out of danger. The Indian National Student Association (INSA) UK issued a statement to say that she remains in a state of shock following the attack, which claimed the life of her friend.
"On behalf of Indian students in the UK, we convey our sincere condolences to her family and friends and pray that her soul rests in peace,” INSA UK said in a statement with reference to Tejaswini.
What deceased's parents said?
"We came to know about the incident on June 14. We don't know when it happened. We got the information that she is serious and in hospital," Tejaswini's father told the media. She had gone to London three years ago and had completed her MS course there, her father added.
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The Metropolitan Police had earlier released an image of Brazilian national Keven Antonio Lourenco De Morais to seek the public’s help in tracing the suspect behind the attack. The 23-year-old man has now been arrested from Harrow, near the crime scene of Neeld Crescent in Wembley. Meanwhile, the victim's uncle requested the government to make necessary arrangements to bring her body from the UK to Hyderabad.
(With PTI inputs)
