26-year-old woman found dead in Hyderabad hotel, lover detained: Police

A 26-year-old woman was found dead under suspicious circumstances in a hotel room in Hyderabad’s Langar Houz area in the early hours of Friday, hours after checking in with her 34-year-old lover, police said

A 26-year-old woman was found dead under suspicious circumstances in a hotel room in Hyderabad’s Langar Houz area in the early hours of Friday, hours after checking in with her 34-year-old lover, police said.

According to Langar Houz sub-inspector Syed Munwar Ali, the preliminary investigation suggests that the woman died by suicide by hanging while she was on a video call with a friend at around 12.24 am.

“She was alone in the hotel room as her lover had gone out a few minutes before her death. The exact reason behind the woman’s death is yet to be ascertained,” the officer said.

Police said the woman, a resident of Bolarum, had checked into the hotel with her lover in the early hours of Thursday. She worked as a dancer at a pub in Kukatpally. She had been married for about eight years, had a seven-year-old son and had been living separately from her husband.

According to the police, she had been in a relationship with the man for the past six months after meeting him at a pub. The lover, a resident of Golconda, is also married and has three children.

Quoting hotel records, police said the couple ordered biryani for dinner at around 11.56 pm on Thursday. The boyfriend later left the hotel on personal work, leaving the woman alone in the room.

Police said that shortly after midnight, the woman made a video call to her friend.

“Inquiries revealed that it was a normal call and she had told her friend that it was her birthday the following day. She told the friend that she had a birthday gift for her. Even as the video call was in progress, the woman allegedly hanged herself at around 12.24 am,” the sub-inspector said.

Hotel staff alerted the police after discovering the incident. A police team conducted a preliminary inspection and shifted the body to Osmania General Hospital for post-mortem examination.

Langar Houz police inspector B Venkat Ramulu said the investigation is focused on establishing the exact sequence of events leading to the woman’s death. Police are examining CCTV footage from the hotel, analysing her mobile phone, recording witness statements and questioning the man who had accompanied her.

“We have detained the boyfriend for questioning and are trying to reconstruct the events before her death and determine whether any foul play was involved,” the inspector said.

The woman’s family told police they did not believe the suicide theory and suspected she had been murdered.

“We are probing all angles. We have booked a case of suspicious death. The cause and manner of death will be determined only after the post-mortem report, forensic examination, and other evidence are thoroughly analysed. Further investigation is underway,” Ramulu said.