Nabarangpur/Kodinga: The blood-soaked body of a woman was recovered from behind her house in a village under Kodinga police limits in Nabarangpur district Monday morning, police said, adding that her family members alleged she had been raped and murdered.
Police detained a youth, identified as Dasaratha Bhatra, in connection with the incident and are interrogating him, they said. According to police, the woman, whose father had died, left her home around 9 pm Sunday with friends to play on a swing on the first day of the Raja festival.
Her brother discovered her blood-soaked body in the backyard of the family home around 5 am Monday and alerted relatives and villagers, who then informed the Kodinga police. Police officials and a forensic team reached the spot, collected evidence and launched an investigation.
The body was sent for post-mortem at Nabarangpur hospital and a case (101/26) was registered. Family members said the woman had taken a mobile phone with her when she left home Sunday night.
However, the phone has not been recovered. “This brutal incident during the joy of the Raja festival has left us devastated,” family members said, alleging she was raped before being murdered.
Superintendent of Police Jagdish Partha Kashyap said the investigation would be based on the family’s complaint, forensic findings and the post-mortem report.
