Indian-origin man charged with assisting offender in murder case in UK

An Indian-origin man in the UK has been charged with assisting an offender and remanded in custody in connection with a murder inquiry in south-west England.

Mahesh Sorathiya, 38, from Wolverhampton in central England, appeared before Cheltenham Magistrates' Court along with a 27-year-old woman, who is charged with the murder of a woman whose remains were found in the Forest of Dean area of Gloucestershire earlier this week.

A woman has been charged with murder in connection with the discovery of human remains in the Forest of Dean on the evening of Tuesday 12 May, the local Gloucestershire Police said in a statement.

Gareeca Conita Gordon, 27, and of Salisbury Road, Birmingham has been charged with the murder of a woman on or before May 12, 2020. Mahesh Sorathiya, 38, and of Denmore Gardens, Wolverhampton has been charged with assisting an offender on or before May 12, 2020, the statement added.

The pair have been refused bail and the police said that the results of DNA tests to establish the identity of the victim are still awaited.

The human remains of the unidentified woman had been discovered by the police in two suitcases close to a quarry near Coleford in the Forest of Dean on Tuesday night.

Police were alerted after a member of the public reported suspicions about a vehicle due to its erratic driving. The vehicle was located a short while later and two people were spoken to by officers, leading to the discovery of two suitcases containing the remains.

A post-mortem was found to be inconclusive and further examinations are ongoing to establish the cause of death, the police said.