Skeleton remains of a woman and her daughter have been found in the septic tanks of their house in Ranchi on Monday. The woman had been missing for the past seven days.

Police on Monday recovered two deformed bodies, almost turned into skeletons, in Pipra Toli in Ranchi. The cops believe that the remains belong to Rekha Tigga and her five-year-old daughter Priyanka.

The mother-daughter duo lived in rented accommodation. Their landlord, Bhairo Tigga - a retired ASI from CISF, said that he had not seen the woman and her daughter for the past days.

The police had come to the house to investigate a foul smell coming from the backyard. After searching the house, the police found the woman and her daughter's remains at the bottom of the septic tank.

According to the cops, Rekha Tigga used to stay with her live-in partner Mohammed Shamim and daughter Priyanka after the death of her husband. Shamim has been absconding since August 24.

Rekha was last seen on August 21.

Deputy SP Hatia Prabhat Ranjan Barwar said that prima facie it seems like a case of murder. "However, after postmortem, some clue may come up, but so far, the needle of suspicion for murder is pointing towards the alleged victim's live-in partner Mohammed Shamim. The raids are on to arrest him," he said.

The room and scene of the crime have been cordoned off for forensic experts to investigate further.