MBA student found dead,cops suspect rape before murder

The postmortem report is awaited.

A student of a management college in Mohali,Neha was reported missing last evening when she did not return home from her coaching centre in Sector 15,where she was pursuing a spoken English course.

Her parents reached the Sector-39 police station around midnight after Bhitesh,brother of Neha’s friend,traced her two-wheeler (CH03-Q-6070) near the taxi stand. The scooter reportedly had blood stains on it.

The deceased’s father,Rajbir Singh Ahlawat,reached the spot and found Neha’s body among the bushes near the scooter. The body was taken to the PGI where doctors declared her dead on arrival.

Strangulation marks
The body bore severe injuries on the wrist,thigh and the back,and strangulation marks on the neck. There were also cut marks on her eyebrows.

Police said the tool box of her scooter was open and the tools scattered on the ground. A blood-stained stone recovered from the site seems to have been used to bludgeon the victim,said police.

Unidentified man answered phone
When Rajbir called his daughter around 10 pm,someone answered the phone identifying himself as a resident of Badheri. “The man said he had bought the phone for Rs 500,” said Rajbir. After the conversation the phone was switched off. Police are looking at the call details

Eyewitness account
After attending her coaching class in Sector 15,Neha went to her friend Jyotsana’s house in Sector 40 from where she left around 7.45 pm. According to an eyewitness,she had parked her scooter and was talking on her mobile phone from 7.55 pm till 8.30 pm. The police also questioned another friend of Neha,who confirmed that he spoke with her last night for a few minutes,but was unaware of the incident.

Grieving family
“She would normally return home around 7.30 pm. But when she did not return till 8 pm,we went looking out for her. I reached the police station around midnight and reported the matter to the ASI. Approximately at the same time,I received a call from Bhitesh that he had spotted her scooter with blood stains on it. We reached the spot and found her body,” said Rajbir Singh.

Evidence washed away?
Heavy rains that lashed the city last night seem to have washed off the bloodstains from the scooter and also from the spot where the body was found.

“Due to the rains,the blood stains were washed away,erasing vital evidence. Though it appears that Neha was raped or there was an attempt to rape,we can confirm only after her postmortem report comes in,” said UT SSP S S Srivastava.