A headless body of a girl believed to be in the mid-20s was recovered from forests in Ormanjhi, over 20 km from the district headquarters in Ranchi on Sunday, sending locals into a tizzy. The body found was also without clothes and bore heavy injury marks suggesting that she may have been abused and raped before her murder.

Ranchi rural SP Naushad Alam, who rushed to the spot in the morning soon after being alerted by locals, said that police is trying to ascertain the identity of the girl. “Dog squad was pressed to trace the head to establish her identity but we haven’t got any success. Police are on the job to crack the case,” he said.

On the possibility of rape, the police are yet to officially make any comment till the post mortem is done. Police sources, however, suspected that the girl may have been raped, beaten severely and then beheaded to dodge the identity of the deceased. “Criminals may have killed her somewhere else and thrown the body here,” suspected another cop. Sources also claimed said that police found a few empty bottles of beer in the vicinity.

The incident has again prompted opposition BJP to attack Hemant Soren government over the safety and security of women in the state. BJP’s women wing president Arti Kujur said, “How long will the women continue to face abuse, rape and murder. When will police act to plug loopholes? Such an incident happening right at the doorsteps of capital is proof enough of poor patrolling and ineffective policing.”

Notably, close to 1,500 cases of rape and crime against women and child were reported in Jharkhand in 2020. Speaking with reporters on New Year eve, DGP MV Rao had said that an internal study conducted by state police had revealed that 90 per cent of cases involved criminals who were either matriculate or educated or even less than that and role of consumption of liquor was common in every incident.