Woman found murdered on highway, infant rescued

TIRUPUR: An unidentified woman, who seemed to be belonged to northern part of the country, was found murdered on Kochi-Salem national highway at Sengapalli in Tirupur district on Thursday. Ironically, an infant who was believed to be her son was rescued with blood stains on his clothes from the spot.

While the dead body was sent to be preserved at the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital, the child, which was assumed to be one and half years old, was taken to a government children home in Coimbatore.

The dead body of the woman was spotted by morning walkers in the early hours of Thursday. The woman was found in kneeling down position with her head facing down. The child was sitting quietly near the body found in a pool of blood, a police officer told TOI.

The police officer said, "When we reached the spot, people have gathered to see the tragedy on one of two service roads at Sengapalli village near Perumanallur. Even then, the baby boy was sitting there watching everybody around. When we lifted the dead body, we noticed that the woman's throat has been slit and blood spilled all along her face. We found blood stains on the child's clothes but no injuries on his body."

The police found that the woman, who could be aged between 25 and 30, was wearing gold covering ear stud and silver finger rings. She could be a native of any northern state. It is yet to be known whether she was a migrant labourer, said the police sources.

The rescued boy was sent to Uthukuli government hospital for first-aid before being taken to the government children orphanage home in Coimbatore. Meanwhile, the police recovered a blood-stained button knife six feet away from the corpse.

The Uthukuli police have registered it as murder case under Section 302 of IPC. "We have not ruled out the possibility of suicide but initial findings suggest that it could be a murder. Only after getting the post-mortem report, the clouds around the incident could be cleared," a higher police official said.