Betnoti: In a shocking incident, the half-naked body of a woman was found lying alongside a road near the Betnoti-Nadapur forest in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district here today. The deceased was identified as Malati Murmu (35) of Nadapur village within Betnoti police limits in the district. While the exact cause of death has not been established yet, it is suspected that she was raped and then murdered.

Sources said Malati, her husband Golak and their younger son had their dinner together on Friday night. Then Golak reportedly went to an Adivasi Mela in the nearby village while their son went to sleep at a friend's house, leaving Malati alone in the house. In the morning, to everyone's horror, villagers found Malati lying in a pool of blood in half-naked condition beside the road near the Betnoti-Nadapur sal forest. There was blood a particular spot in the jungle and the stains stretched towards the road which indicated that Malati was dragged for over 200 metres after probably being raped and murdered.

On getting information, Betnoti SDPO Sudarshan Das, Baisinga police and a scientific team arrived at the spot. While Malati's 11-year old son was present at the spot, husband Golak was absent for a long time, sources said.

The body was seized for postmortem and case registered. Investigation is underway. The cause of death will be ascertained after the autopsy report arrives, police said.