VILLUPURAM: The body of a woman, believed to be in her 20s, was exhumed by the police from a farmland near Tirukoilur on Monday. As the body was decomposed, an autopsy was done at the spot.
In the first phase of investigation, police found that the woman was raped several times before being killed.
Police sources said Ramachandiran (38), a farmer, was ploughing his farmland at Ulagalapatti near Moongilthuraipattu on Wednesday last, when he spotted three fingers. He immediately alerted the Vadaponparappi police, who rushed to the spot.
The police officilas then inspected the fingers and confirmed that a body had been buried there.
As the fingers were in a decomposed state, they told doctors to come and perform the autopsy at the spot. Since there were no doctors available at that time, police protection was arranged at the burial spot. Later on Monday afternoon, two doctors - Geethanjali and Saranya of Mundiampakkam Medical College arrived.
The body was then exhumed in the presence of Sankarapuram Tahsildar Balasubramanian and Tirukoilur DSP Rajendiran.
There were no clothes on the body, except for a white rag and the legs and hands were found bound with a shawl.
Forensic Department assistant director Shamugam also inspected the body and collected samples for examination.
A police source said the first phase of the forensic examination and medical investigation revealed that the woman was raped several times.
Based on the traces collected from the body, police suspect that the gang might have raped her elsewhere, killed her and brought the body to the farmland to be buried.
The woman might have been murdered about 10 days ago, the source added.
The Vadaponparappi police have registered a case and are investigating to find out the identify of the woman. Police have been checking the list of missing women in the surrounding areas.