Hyderabad: A woman was allegedly raped and murdered by her boyfriend on her birthday in Warangal district, and the accused who tried to project the death as a natural one has been arrested, police said on Thursday.

The woman turned 19 on Wednesday, and the man called up her, and she left her house that night telling her parents she was going to a temple, but she went with her boyfriend, they said. The man took her in his car to a secluded place and allegedly raped her, and she apparently died during the sexual assault, the police said.

She may have died of shock or a cardiac arrest or an epileptic fit, a senior police official said based on preliminary investigation. The man later took the woman's body in his car and dumped the body near her house to make it appear as if she died a natural death, the police official said.

Since there were bloodstains on her dress, the man changed the clothes before throwing the body, he said. The victim's brother lodged a complaint when she did not return to their house till late Wednesday, the police said.

During the course of the investigation, the man, aged around 21, a final year degree student, was caught, the police official said adding that the couple had become friendly over the past few months. The man had been insisting the victim have a sexual relationship with him but she was against it, the police said.

So, the man called her up on her birthday under the pretext of wishing her, took her out and raped her causing the death. The real cause of the death would be knownonly after a post-mortem report, the police added.

However, a case under IPC sections 376 (rape), 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) was registered against the accused.