Thiruvananthapuram: Two alleged drug peddlers were arrested on Thursday in connection with the rape and murder of a Latvian woman, whose headless and decomposed body was found in a mangrove forest near Kerala's Kovalam beach on April 21, police said.

Investigating officer Manoj Abhraham said the accused youths, Umesh and Udayan, had been charged under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape) and 20(b) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

City police commissioner P. Prakash said Umesh and Udayan had "lured" Liga Skromane, 33, to the spot by saying it was a beautiful place, made her consume ganja and then sexually assaulted and strangled her.

"The accused then tried to make it look like suicide by hanging her body to a natural creeper," the officer said. As the decomposition set in, after about 30 days the head fell off the body, he added.

The investigation was conducted on the basis of circumstantial evidence using scientific methods, DGP Loknath Behara said. "The case was homicide," he added.

The cremation of Liga, who had come to Kerala for ayurvedic treatment of depression, was held in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday and her ashes will be flown to her native place by her sister, the police said. The Skromane family is based in Dublin.