Bhubaneswar: Police recovered a half-naked body of a woman near a road close to the Betnoti-Nadapur forest in Mayurbhanj district on Saturday morning.
The deceased was identified as Malati Murmu (35), a resident of Nadapur village in the district.
Sources said that locals discovered the half-naked body lying on the roadside and informed the police. On being informed, police along with a forensic team reached the spot and started an investigation into the matter.
Initial probe revealed that Malati lived with her husband Golak and sons in a nearby villager. On Friday night she dined with her husband and younger son and went to sleep. On the other hand, Golak reportedly went to an Adivasi Mela (tribal village) in an adjacent village while their son went to sleep at a friend’s house. In the morning, villagers found Malati lying in a pool of blood in half-naked condition beside a road near the Betnoti-Nadapur sal forest.
Although the police are yet to ascertain the cause of the woman’s death, they suspect that she was raped and then murdered elsewhere and her body was dumped beside the road. Blood stains found at a spot in the jungle and stretching towards the road suggest that Malati was dragged for over 200 metres after being ‘raped’ and ‘murdered’.
The body has been sent to a local hospital for post-mortem while an investigation is underway.
