Latvian police arrest local man suspected of raping and murdering girl in London

Acting on a tip from British police, Latvian police arrested a man suspected of raping and murdering a 17-year-old British girl in London, officials said Friday.

The suspected - a 42-year-old Latvian man identified only as Viktor D - is believed to have attacked 17-year-old Jeshma Raithatha on May 16 in a wooded area in Sudbury Hill, in west London, and fled to Latvia. She was raped and stabbed three times through the heart, and her body was not discovered until eight days after the attack.

Officers in Livani, 140 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of Riga, arrested the suspect at his apartment on Thursday, said Kristine Mezaraupe, a police spokeswoman. He will be brought before a district court in nearby Praeli.

The suspect is expected to be extradited to Britain, but police in London had not yet sent Latvia an international arrest warrant, Mezaraupe said, adding that the process could take up to a month.

Since Latvia joined the European Union last year, thousands of Latvians have moved to Britain to live and work.

AP