DHENKANAL: Mystery shrouds the death of a college girl whose body was found with her head smashed in a forest near Mangalpur village within Sadar police limits here on Friday.
The 17-year-old girl was a resident of Mangalpur and Plus Two first-year science student in Dhenkanal Women’s College. She had gone missing on Thursday.
Sources said the girl used to attend tuition classes in a private coaching centre in Dhenkanal town, around six km from her village. On Thursday afternoon, she went to the coaching centre but did not return home. Her family members launched a frantic search but were unable to trace her. Subsequently, they lodged a missing complaint with Dhenkanal Sadar police.
At around 1 pm on Friday, locals spotted the girl’s body with her head crushed in the forest. On being informed, police reached the spot and started investigation.
Additional SP of Dhenkanal Suryamani Pradhan said the girl’s body bore multiple injury marks. Her head was completely smashed, probably with a stone. Police seized the body and sent it for postmortem.However, Pradhan ruled out the possibility of rape and sexual assault on the girl. “Preliminary investigation suggests that the student was not raped as there were no signs of sexual assault. It seems to be a case of murder. However, the exact cause of her death can be ascertained after we receive the postmortem report,” he said.
A murder case has been registered and investigation is underway. So far, no arrests have been made and efforts are on to nab the killers. “We hope to crack the case and arrest the culprits soon,” the police officer added.