An 18-year-old college student was allegedly raped and murdered in her hostel room in south Mumbai while a security guard, who is an accused in the case, was found dead on railway tracks near the hostel, police said on Wednesday.

The police were alerted at around 5 pm on Tuesday after the woman became untraceable, with her fourth-floor hostel room in Charni Road area locked from outside.

A police team that entered the hostel room found her strangulated to death with a piece of cloth, an official said.

The victim was the student of a government polytechnic college in suburban Bandra, he said.

After reaching the spot, the police along with a team of forensic and fingerprint experts started a probe into the incident.

During the investigation, it came to light that the hostel's security guard, who was a suspect in the case, was found dead on the railway tracks near Charni Road station on Tuesday morning, the official said.

Based on a complaint by the student's cousin and circumstantial evidence, an FIR was registered against the security guard under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 (murder) and 376 (rape), the official said.

A probe was on into the case, he said, adding the post-mortem report was awaited.

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