Woman's Naked, Headless Body Found Dumped In Jungle; Sexual Abuse Suspected

A woman's naked and headless body was found in a jungle in India by villagers. The police said the body had injury marks due to which it is suspected the victim might have been sexually abused before being killed.

The incident took place in the eastern state of Jharkhand. Villagers alerted police after they found the woman's body Sunday in the Ormanjhi area, local reports said. The body of the woman was sent for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

According to Catch News, police also found a few empty bottles of alcohol from near the scene.

"Whether she was sexually assaulted or not will be ascertained after post-mortem. Prima facie it seems the body was dumped at the said spot after the murder at some other place," Ranchi Rural Superintendent of Police (SP) Naushad Alam said, according to India Today.

While the victim's identity has not been confirmed, a woman came forward saying the deceased was her teenage daughter, who has allegedly been missing since September.

The woman claimed there was a "mole" in her daughter's foot, which is how she could identify her. However, the police said a DNA test would be conducted to verify the woman's claim, Catch News reported.

An investigation has been launched by local police to determine who killed the young woman.

Last year in June, a man decapitated his female relative and later walked into a local police station with her severed head. The incident took place in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. The 30-year-old man allegedly killed the woman on suspicion of "practicing witchcraft." The suspect, identified as Budhuram Singh, told police he suspected his daughter died because of black magic done by the 60-year-old woman, who was also his aunt.

The man also handed over the murder weapon – an ax – to the police. Authorities later recovered the woman's torso from the home where the attack took place. Police arrested the suspect and registered a murder case. An investigation was launched into the incident at the time.