In a gruesome act, a 70-year-old woman was found dead under mysterious circumstances here on Saturday. Her body was found abandoned near a bush on the Viraganoor side of Ring Road.
Madurai district police said that the victim, identified as Prakasi (70), wife of Immanuel Raja of Anna Nagar in the city, had been to a church on Friday evening but never returned home. As she could not be spotted anywhere, the relatives informed the police.
Even as they were frantically searching for the aged woman, the early morning news that an unidentified body was found near a bush on the Ring Road solved the missing case as the family members identified the deceased as Prakasi, police said.
The Silaiman police seized the body and sent it to Government Rajaji Hospital for post-mortem. A case of unnatural death and robbery was registered as the woman’s gold chain weighing about 20 sovereigns was missing.
Murder for gainA senior police officer, who visited the scene of crime, said that there was strangulation around the neck. A towel was found near the body. There were some injuries on the head. Probably, the murderers might have used huge stones to disfigure her, he added.
Preliminary inquiries suggested that the woman and her husband retired as academics. They hailed from Idaikkattur in Sivaganga district.
Prakasi’s entry and exit from the church in Anna Nagar had been recorded in the CCTV at around 7 p.m.
In all probability, she might have been taken to the secluded spot by some known person as kidnapping or taking a woman by force in the thickly populated Anna Nagar area would not have been possible, the officers felt.
Some known auto rickshaw drivers, who were hired by the couple, were being watched by police teams. Similarly, those who visited their house were also being enquired, they added.
The Anna Nagar police, who were informed about the woman missing case, had not registered an FIR, a family member said.
