Youth organisations of CPM, CPI and Congress took out protest marches to railway stations and blocked trains as Shoranur observed a hartal in protest against the gruesome incident.

Kerala Women’s Commission chairperson D Sreedevi has demanded that the law be amended to hand out capital punishment to such criminals.

The railways have also decided to increase security in the women’s compartments.

Divisional manager Rajiv Dutt Sarma said that steps would be taken for deploying Railway Protection Force personnel in ladies compartments of trains running after 6 pm.

Soumya was cremated at Ivarmadom crematorium on Monday. The custody of the accused Govindaswamy has been handed over to the police by a local court.