Ludhiana: Body of missing 21-year-old woman found in locked room of neighbor in Azad Nagar

A 21-year-old woman, missing for the past three days, was found dead in a locked room in Azad Nagar on Saturday, officials aware of the developments said.

They said the room’s occupant fled after locking the room on Oct. 30.

Model Town police have initiated an investigation into the suspected murder case, officials added.

The police have sent the body to the civil hospital for post-mortem.

According to the police, no visible marks of injury were found on the body and the reason behind her death will be determined after the autopsy.

The police suspect that the woman was sexually abused.

Murder case registered against neighbor

A first information report (FIR) was registered against the suspect, identified as Vishwanath alias Pandit.

The woman worked at a small sticker department and her mother works at a factory in Sahnewal. The 21-year-old’s father has a physical disability.

The woman’s father said he had been living in a rented house in Azad Nagar with his four daughters and a son for the past five years.

The suspect, Vishwanath, lived as a tenant in another room.

“Vishwanath used to tell us that he works for a transport company in Phagwara. On October 30, he took me to Jalandhar Bypass, claiming that he would help me find a job, asked me to wait near Salem Tabri and left. When he didn’t return for three hours, I returned home to find his room locked. I received a call from my daughter’s employer, who told me that she had not come to work,” the father said.

“I suspected that the suspect had kidnapped my daughter. When the landlord opened the lock of the suspect’s room on Saturday, we found my daughter’s body,” he added.

Model Town Station House Officer (SHO) sub-inspector Avneet Kaur said the body was decomposing and she was probably murdered on the day she went missing.

The cause of death will be determined after the autopsy, he added.

According to the SHO, it is yet to be determined whether the woman was sexually abused.

A murder case has been registered against the suspect, he added.