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VIJAYAWADA: A 29-year-old woman with Down’s syndrome who had gone out to buy vegetables was found raped and murdered at Chavatapalem village in Nellore district .

The incident happened on Sunday night but came to light only on Monday after the family found her body in an abandoned building. The culprits are yet to be identified.

Cops said that the family began looking for her when she did not return home and found her anklets on Monday near an abandoned building. When they searched the building, they found her body.

The shocked family after trying to hunt for the assailants for a while, finally filed a complaint with the Gudur rural police.

A preliminary post-mortem conducted by the Nellore Government Hospital confirmed that the woman was raped. A closer examination of her skull revealed that she was bludgeoned to death by a heavy object.

A case of rape and murder has been registered by police, said SP Bhaskar Bhushan, who is monitored the investigation, adding that the hunt for the culprits was on.

(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)

