Keonjhar: Police recovered the blood-soaked body of an 18-year-old girl student hanging from a tree near her house in Tentalapasi village under Harichandanpur block and Pandapada police limits Tuesday morning.
It is suspected that she was raped before being murdered. Family members cried foul over the incident, claiming it to be a murder. Whether it is suicide or murder will be ascertained after a proper investigation, police said.
The incident sparked tension in the area as villagers demanded immediate arrest of the culprit. Police sent the body for post-mortem and started an investigation with the help of a scientific team, IIC Laxmikanta Pradhan of Pandapada police station said.
Police also seized some clothes and other items from the spot, he said. A case was registered over a complaint lodged by the family members and further investigations are on, the IIC added.
It is suspected that the clothes found from the spot belong to the accused person, who left it behind while absconding from the spot in the dark of night.
Locals suspect that the assailant might have hung her from a tree after killing her to give it the shape of a suicide. The police can trace the accused by checking the mobile phone of the girl, locals said.
Sources said the girl was in a relationship with a youth from the locality. Family members suspected him to be behind the brutal murder.
PNN
