Three days on, cops have no leads on Virar woman’s identity, murder

Even three days after the body of an unidentified woman, aged between 22 and 25 years, was found in a forested area off the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, the Virar police are yet to make a breakthrough in the case. HT reports.

Even three days after the body of an unidentified woman, aged between 22 and 25 years, was found in a forested area off the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, the Virar police are yet to make a breakthrough in the case.

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According to the police, the body was found in the Watharpada village (Tokri gram panchayat) in Virar area, about 24 kilometers from Mumbai on Thursday morning.

A villager spotted the naked body of the woman lying near an old, uninhabited building at 7.30am and subsequently informed the sarpanch (village head), Ramchandra Roj, 40. A social worker then informed the police.

There were strangulation marks on the woman’s neck, injuries made with a sharp object on her cheeks and she had also sustained head injuries.

Based on the bruises, the police had registered a case under section 302 (for murder) and 201 (for causing disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code, against an unidentified person.

The police said that they had issued wireless messages across the state to see if any missing person’s complaints had been filed recently.

The police said that the victim’s post mortem report revealed that she had not been sexually abused. The cause of death was ‘asphyxia due to smothering,’ said Patil.

The police said that the woman was wearing glass bangles and vermilion on her head, indicating that she was married. However, no documents were found on her to help the police ascertain her identity, officials said.