Kottayam/Thrissur (Keralam) | As families in Keralam continue to grapple with the shock of the double murder of two Malayali women in California, the state government on Tuesday stepped up efforts to bring home their mortal remains.

State Youth Affairs and Sports Minister O J Janeesh visited the home of one of the victims, 35-year-old Anjana Hari, at Pananchery in Thrissur district and assured her family that the procedures to bring her body back to Kerala would be expedited.

The visit came a day after Chief Minister V D Satheesan spoke to Anjana's family over the phone, an official release said.

"Normally, such incidents may involve a slight delay due to legal issues. However, considering this as a special case, the government will actively intervene to ensure that the daughter's body is brought home as soon as possible," Janeesh said.

The minister spoke to Anjana's father Haridas and her father-in-law Vilangannoor Santhyalayam Vijayan. Pananchery panchayat president Minu Varghese, block panchayat member K C Abhilash, panchayat vice-president K P Chackochan, Thrissur tahsildar Sanalkumar and panchayat members accompanied him.

Anjana, a native of Mudikkode in Thrissur, and her close friend Ann Mary Mathew, 35, from Kesavadasapuram in Thiruvananthapuram, were allegedly killed in Milpitas, California. Anila, 32, a friend of the two women and a native of Kottayam, has been identified as the suspect and is in US police custody, according to their relatives.

The three friends had also appeared together at an Onam celebration organised by the Malayali Association of Northern California recently. They posed for photographs in traditional Kerala attire, a picture that now stands in sharp contrast to the tragedy that followed.

Friends and relatives are struggling to understand how a close friendship could have ended in such violence. There has been speculation that Anila's employment-related issues in the US may have contributed to the incident, but police have not confirmed this.

At Chingavanam in Kottayam, Ann's relatives and neighbours of her husband's residence are finding it equally difficult to accept the death of a woman they knew as a warm and supportive person.

"Ann was a good girl. She had a good nature. My children are also in California. Jacob and Ann were very supportive of them. When I went to the US, I visited their home," their neighbour in Chingavanam said.

Ann and her husband Jacob had been living in the US for around six years. They had recently bought a house in California and moved into it two months ago.

The three women had been close friends for around five years.

Ann had visited Keralam and returned to the US just two weeks before her death. She was working as a teacher at a school in California. Her husband was scheduled to return to Kerala on September 7 when the tragedy occurred.

Jacob and Ann had studied engineering together in Coimbatore.

The tragedy has also left Anila's relatives and neighbours in Kottayam struggling to understand what happened.

At Thazhaykkavayal in Erattupetta, people who knew Anila find it difficult to believe that she could have been involved in such a crime. She was generally known as a quiet person who behaved well with others.

Anila had gone to the US about four years ago for work and lived there with her husband and daughter. She had completed her engineering degree in Bengaluru. Her husband, a native of Thodupuzha, had been with her during her studies and later moved to the US after getting a job there.

Anila's parents had visited her home in Milpitas about two months ago.

For the families, the tragedy has been made even harder by the circumstances in which they first learnt about the deaths.

Anjana's family was initially told on Saturday that she had met with a serious accident and had been hospitalised. It was only later that they learnt that she had died, Vinod said.

Anjana's husband, Vijeesh, remains in shock and is struggling to come to terms with the tragedy while caring for their six-year-old daughter, Vinod said.

The families have been informed that the husbands of the two women may be allowed to see their bodies after the post-mortem examinations in California.

There are also indications that Ann's body will be brought home for burial at Pallam Kalloopparambu Church.

Union Minister Suresh Gopi said on Monday that all steps would be taken to bring back the mortal remains of the two women from Kerala.

The Malayali Association in California and the Indian Embassy have also been actively involved in helping the families.

As the legal procedures continue in California, the families in Keralam are now waiting for the bodies of the two women to be released so that they can bring them home and give them a final farewell.