A half-naked body of a woman was found lying alongside a road near the Betnoti-Nadapur forest in Mayurbhanj district on Saturday. The deceased was identified as Malati Murmu (35) of Nadapur village under the Betnoti police limits. It was suspected that she was raped and then murdered.
Sources said Malati, her husband Golak and their younger son had their dinner together on Friday night. Then, Golak went to an Adivasi Mela in a nearby village while their son went to sleep at a friend’s house, leaving Malati alone in the house. On Saturday morning, villagers found Malati lying in a pool of blood in a half-naked condition beside the road near the Betnoti-Nadapur sal forest.
There was blood at a particular spot in the jungle and the stains stretched towards the road which indicated that Malati was dragged for over 200 meters after probably being raped and murdered.
Getting information, Betnoti SDPO Sudarshan Das, the Baisinga police and a scientific team arrived at the spot. While Malati’s 11-year old son was present there, husband Golak was absent for a long time, sources said.
The body was seized for postmortem and a case registered. Investigation was underway. The cause of death would be ascertained after the autopsy report arrived, police said.