Chennai: A 34-year-old woman was found murdered in Kavi Thandalam village in Chengalpet, with no arrests made yet, said Salavakkam police on Friday.
The victim was identified as J. Gomathi (34), wife of Jayapal (36) of Kavi Thandalam village, in Kancheepuram district. The couple has two children. Jayapal is a coolie, while Gomathi supported the family by collecting firewood, and selling it in the village.
Police said that around 4 pm on Thursday, Gomathi and her relatives in the village, Vasuki (40) and Jayasheela (30), went to a nearby headland to collect firewood, while her husband Jayapal was away at work.
Vasuki and Jayasheela had collected enough wood and headed back home by 6:30 pm, but Gomathi stayed back and continued collecting more wood. Police said, Gomathi allegedly told the other two women that she would go home around 7 pm after collecting one more bundle of firewood. However, she did not return home.
Police sources said on Thursday night, Jayapal and Gomathi's relatives launched a search for her. Around 8:30 pm, they found the partially naked body of Gomathi in the bushes behind a lake bed. Police said the woman had sustained a deep cut on her throat and died of excessive blood loss. Her jewellery was intact.
The Salavakkam police and Kanchipuram SP, Kannan, were alerted. The forensic department and a sniffer dog was brought to the spot. Sources said that the dog went up to one-km from the scene of crime, which is a pond, and returned to the same spot. Police suspect that the murderers could have rinsed the bloodstains in the pond, and fled.
Police have formed three special teams to nab the murderer. The body was sent to the Chengalpet government hospital for post-mortem. Police suspect the victim was gangraped and murdered. Investigations are on.
