UMERKOTE : Hours after a minor girl was allegedly gangraped in Mayurbhanj’s Rairangpur, a 22-year-old woman was found murdered in a village under Kodinga police limits in Nabarangpur district on Sunday night.
The victim’s family alleged she was sexually assaulted before being murdered. The incident took place in Chacharaguda village.
According to family members, the woman had gone out on Sunday night to celebrate the first day of Raja festival with her friends. On Monday morning, her brother discovered her blood-stained body lying near the backyard of their house. He reportedly noticed blood oozing from her mouth and swelling around her neck, raising suspicions of foul play.
A friend said she and the victim had gone to enjoy rides on the village swing at around 9 pm. During the festivities, the 22-year-old reportedly left the gathering alone without informing anyone.
Assuming that she had returned home, the friend went back to her house at around 10 pm. Since the Raja festival was going on in the village at night, the family was not worried when the young woman did not return home.
Family members suspect that the 22-year-old was sexually assaulted and subsequently murdered by unidentified miscreants, who dumped her body near their house before fleeing the scene. They demanded immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the crime.
On receiving information, Kodinga police reached the village and launched an investigation. A scientific team was also called in to collect forensic evidence from the crime scene.
Phulsingh Bhotra filed a complainant in Kodinga police station based on which a case was registered. Police have detained a person for questioning in connection with the case. Papdahandi SDPO Satyajit Kandankel said the body of the deceased was seized for postmortem.
Nabarangpur SP Kashyap Parth Jagdish, who visited the crime scene to take stock of the situation, said the allegations levelled by the deceased’s family would be thoroughly examined during the investigation.