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RAJKOT: The body of a 35-year-old woman was found half naked on the outskirts of Khambha village of Lodhika taluka in Rajkot district on Tuesday. An unidentified biker was booked for her murder.

Police suspect that the deceased was sexually assaulted before she was murdered, as there were injury marks on her private parts.

“It appears that the assailants had allegedly used the victim’s dupatta to strangle her as the cloth was found tied around her neck. The body was spotted by a villager, Kuldeepsinh Gohel, who alerted the village sarpanch, Rajendrasinh Jadeja, who informed us,” said Pratipalsinh Zala, Gondal deputy superintendent of police.

The preliminary investigation of the police revealed that the victim used to work as a maid at a family residing at Nanavati Chowk on 150-Feet Ring Road in Rajkot. The victim originally hailed from Junagadh.

“The victim took leave from her employers to go to her mother’s house in Junagadh on Monday night. Her employers asked her to stay back till the end of the lockdown period. However, the victim did not listen to them and left home for Junagadh,” said M N Rana, inspector with Rajkot rural local crime branch.

The officials of Gandhigram police station stopped the victim at Nanavati Chowk.

The cops told her that they would try to arrange for a vehicle to take her to Junagadh and asked her to sit there. When the cops got busy in vehicle checking, the victim walked away from there, stealthily.

“When Gandhigram police station officials told us about their meeting with the victim, we checked the CCTV footages of the area and found that an unidentified biker was taking the victim,” said Rana.

“Her employers said that they had also called up the victim to know whether she had reached Junagadh. The victim, however, lied to them and said that she had reached Junagadh,” added Rana.

The police traced the location of her cellphone which took them to the crime spot where her bag was recovered.

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

